Peter Phillips sets up ice rink at Kensington Palace as new business venture
Questions were raised in 2016 when an events firm run by Elizabeth II’s eldest grandson organised the official street party for her 90th birthday.
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Your support makes all the difference.The late Queen’s grandson, Peter Phillips, has launched a new business venture – staging the UK’s largest festive ice rink – at Kensington Palace.
The 750-person capacity winter wonderland rink, which will be open over the Christmas period, will be built on a helipad in the grounds of the royal residence – the London home of Mr Phillips’ cousin, the Prince of Wales, and the Princess of Wales.
Ice At Kensington Palace is billed as “a magical winter event with sustainability at its core” – values which Mr Phillips said were inspired by his uncle, the King, and his Earth Charter project, Terra Carta.
Mr Phillips, 45, told Hello! magazine it was his own idea to use the royal palace as the backdrop for the ice rink.
“I’ve obviously done a number of events in central London, and on this site, so we looked at it and we started to come up with some plans,” he said.
“And then started to approach the household in the manner that you have to approach them, to be able to plant the seed and see if we could make something happen.”
He said “fortunately” he is now in a position to host the event, and that the drive towards sustainability is related to “whose backyard we’re in”.
The King owns Kensington Palace on behalf of the nation.
Buckingham Palace has yet to confirm whether Charles made the final decision to grant his nephew permission to use the site.
Questions were raised in 2016 when Mr Phillips’ events agency organised the Patron’s Lunch street party for Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday.
The street party on The Mall formed a central part of the official royal celebrations, and saw charities asked to pay £150 a ticket.
William, Kate and Prince Harry turned out to greet the revellers.
It was Mr Phillips’ idea, but the event was not put out to tender.
Sports and Entertainment Ltd (SEL), of which he is managing director, was paid £750,000 in fees for running the event – almost double the £384,000 it raised for good causes.
The Patron’s Fund charity defended the payment at the time, saying there were running costs and Mr Phillips’ firm made no profit.
The Princess Royal’s son does not carry out royal duties and is not an HRH.
He was accused of trading on his royal connections in 2020 when he appeared in an advert for milk in China.
The 2,800 square metre rink with a covered roof will be open from November 30 to January 7 and will be built in Perks Field, used as a helicopter landing place for the royal family in the grounds of “KP”.
The northern end of the field – which was used by the Royal Household as a football pitch – will be turned into a funfair and food hall.
It has been rented out for VIP events in the past.
Tickets for the ice rink will cost £19 off peak for an adult and £22 at peak times, and £16 off peak and £18 peak for children aged three and above, plus an extra £2.20 fee per person.
This includes 45 minutes of skating, skate hire, and access to the food court and shopping areas.
A peak family of four ticket comes to £76.80 including fees, but an 15% early bird discount is available until September 20.
Ice At Kensington Palace’s website says £1 from every ticket purchased will be committed to “supporting the habitat restoration projects, enabling each visitor to contribute towards a sustainable future”.
It also vows to decarbonise its operations, use solar lights and make sure vendors “strive” to eliminate single-use plastics.
Its official retail partner is royal grocer Fortnum & Mason.
It also has a Chairman’s Box, available to hire for 50 people for £5,400, and a VIP Lounge.
The ice rink is the brainchild of Mr Phillips and his business partner, Rob Derry, and is being run by Tamarisk Events, of which they are both directors, and which was listed with Companies House in January this year.
Mr Phillips was criticised in 2008 for selling photos of his wedding to Autumn Kelly to Hello! for a reported £500,000. The pair, who have two daughters, divorced in 2021.
Charles launched his Terra Carta environmental project two years ago.
The ambitious Magna Carta-style charter aims to encourage the private sector to safeguard the planet by adopting sustainability and invest 10 billion dollars (£8 billion) in “natural capital”.