The Literary Fly Fisher

It is well-known that fly fishing has a place in the traditions of Britain’s Royal Family. This is, in part, due to fact that tackle manufacturer Hardy has long publicized their Royal Warrants. Hardy, which dates back to 1872, has held four warrants from British Royal Family members over the years. Currently, it holds a warrant from Charles, Prince of Wales, who is now one of only three Royal Family members who can issue them. Anyone who uses Hardy tackle is familiar with the emblem of this warrant, below. Hardy also uses a castle logo, though this has to do with their being based in the Northumberland town of Alnwick and their proximity to the famous Alnwick castle.

Lately, many eyes have been focused upon Britain’s Royal family, due to the marriage of Prince Harry to American Meghan Markle. Personally, I have little interest in such things, as what some might call a salaried proletariat and despiser of celebrity culture, but I do obviously have an interest in fly fishing history. Here, then, I share a bit of information about the current princes’ interest in the activity.

At this link to the photography of Leslie Donald, you can view some great pictures of Prince Charles teaching his son Harry to cast. In one photograph, Harry has clearly hooked his father with a fly. Any fly fishing parent, royal or not, can relate to this.

It turns out, though, that the ‘official companion’ to Princes William and Harry (and personal assistant to Charles) also had a hand in boys’ angling education. Below, you can see this woman, Alexandra Shân ‘Tiggy’ Pettifers (formerly Legge-Bourke) wading across the River Dee in Wales with the two boys. Tiggy has described her love of fishing with the Royal Family and practicing other field sports. In fact, after leaving royal service, she became a fly fishing guide. She now runs a bed and breakfast, featuring trout and salmon fishing on the River Usk, in Wales, called Ty’r Chanter.  She was born to a rather high-class family herself, and the B&B is located near her family estate, Glanusk Park. She is also a fund-raiser for the Atlantic Salmon Trust, which is dedicated to the preservation of wild Atlantic salmon.  She seems to focus her attention, as a guide, on teaching kids and women to fly fish.

‘Friends for life: the princes in the River Dee with Tiggy’ Photo: Reuters

This entry was posted on May 24, 2018 at 7:28 PM and is filed under Fly Fishing, Fly Fishing Tackle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.