A speech by The Prince of Wales at a reception to mark the handover of The British Sub-aqua Club presidency

You may have been wanting to get rid of me during part of that but now at last, as you can see, the hereditary Principle is now coming into effect and I'm delighted that my eldest Son is taking over from me. 



And I can only assume that his interest probably stems from the fact that I threw him into the swimming pool on many occasions and instead of putting him off, it actually enthused him! And I'm so thrilled that he has decided to carry on the tradition, started really by my Father, who I know began as your president right at the beginning, of course, of the start of the BSAC and then when he handed over to me, 40 years ago, little did I think that I would end up being your president for 40 out of your 60 years. 



And as the Chairman mentioned, it was hell in those days when I think what we used to endure diving now, it's unbelievable what you all can do, your computers, the things which you wear and which bleep, which tell you you're getting the bends before you get them! And thinking of what you mentioned about diving in the Arctic that I shall never forget because I was strapped into this orange suit, dry suit, which had a series of buttons all over it and I was told roughly what to do. It was very, very cold, I must say, going down into this hole in the ice and could I get myself down, underwater? I pressed every button and for some unknown reason all I did was end up trapped against the underside of the ice and the other man I was meant to be diving with was lying on the bottom going like this and every time I tried, I just ended up being trapped against the ceiling, so it was rather a disaster! And I remember I was telling some of you also, diving, snorkelling, in the Caribbean when I was in the Navy and diving down for a moment, looking under a rock, whereupon out came an enormous Morey Eel into my mask with its huge teeth. So, I became like a Polaris Missile and very rapidly shot to the surface!



So, all these experiences and diving on the Mary Rose have been a very important part of my time, anyway, in enjoying the diving. As you get older it's not so easy but I hugely admire the way in which the British Sub-aqua Club has expanded its membership to something like 30,000, with clubs everywhere. The work you've done on marine conservation areas is of enormous importance, I think, and even more important for the future in order to ensure that we have fully functioning marine eco systems and everything that goes with them. Also the work you are doing in litter picking I remember, so well, diving in different parts of the world and finding the bottom littered with Coke tins and goodness knows what else and that aspect of what you do is, again, hugely valuable. 



So, I do hope that the club will go from strength to strength under its new and enthusiastic management and I know that my eldest will now demonstrate his 'buff' credentials by leading bodily into this very welcoming (and I didn't realise that it existed) swimming pool and I wish him every good fortune and I shall be interested to see if he lasts for 40 years as well! 



Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen.