HM 1962
Gold and enamel double sided cufflinks with chain link connections. Each with one 9 carat gold oval panel bearing ‘B’ [E] ‘A’ pilot’s wings overlaid with Prince Philip’s personal cypher of mirrored ‘P’s and coronet on a red enamel field; the corresponding panel bearing a representation of the South American continent with the date 1962 below set in a sea of blue enamel overlaid by parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude. Maker’s mark ‘HHP’ to the reverse for Royal warrant holder Henry Hodson Plante of Bury Street, St James’s, London. Hallmarked 1962.
The present royal cufflinks were commissioned by Prince Philip for presentation to individuals that assisted him during a two-month flying tour of eleven South America countries in 1962. The recipients of gold cufflinks for the 1962 tour included Captain Peter Middleton, grandfather to Catherine, Princess of Wales. During the tour Prince Philip took the controls of a Handley Page Dart Herald jet-prop airliner with Captain Middleton, a former wartime RAFVR Mosquito pilot, as co-pilot on 49 of 62 flights over some of the most hazardous routes in the world.