Peter Phillips has been working incredibly hard for the past two years to bring one of his most ambitious projects to life – and he’s been working closely with his uncle, King Charles, to make sure they’re absolutely in sync with vision.
Princess Anne’s son is extremely passionate about his latest endeavour – the UK’s largest festive ice rink, built on the helipad at Kensington Palace with the majestic royal residence as a backdrop.
And when we catch up with him during a heatwave to talk about his new, world-leading winter experience, he explains how he’s made sure all members of the royal family are as excited about this project as he is.
The 45-year-old has considered every single detail to make ICE at Kensington Palace an event to remember. Speaking exclusively Peter detailed how his uncle, King Charles, inspired him and his business partner Rob Derry to make sustainability ICE’s core value.
“Given the location we’re at, when we came up with the concept, we wanted to drive towards the sustainability piece, but the simple fact of the matter is where we are, and whose backyard we’re in. We very much have to align with their core values, and so we were aligned with the King’s Earth Charter, the Terra Carta, and obviously with the Sustainable Markets Initiative, their SMI.
WHAT IS TERRA CARTA?
King Charles launched Terra Carta back in 2021, to encourage the private sector to safeguard the planet by adopting sustainability.
The initiative has parallels with the Magna Carta – the touchstone for human rights and modern democracy – and aims to lay out a “recovery plan” towards sustainability that gives fundamental rights and value to nature.
In his foreword to the Terra Carta, the then-Prince of Wales wrote: “If we consider the legacy of our generation, more than 800 years ago, Magna Carta inspired a belief in the fundamental rights and liberties of people.
“As we strive to imagine the next 800 years of human progress, the fundamental rights and value of nature must represent a step-change in our ‘future of industry’ and ‘future of economy’.”
“That is really driving all that we are doing. So, all the way through from our suppliers to our games providers, to food providers, and so and so forth, and all of our partners as well, everyone needs to be able to sign up for the process of sustainability and how we can make a winter event more sustainable.”
Picking the Prince and Princess of Wales’s former helipad as its location wasn’t a coincidence, as Peter explains. “The closure of the Natural History Museum and the Tower of London ice rinks created a gap in the ice-skating capacity in London. And so, we were looking for a venue within central London to be able to fill that sort of requirement.”
He continued: “Rob Derry, my business partner who ran many ice rinks around the country for five or six years, knows all there is to know about ice rinks, knows a lot more than I do. And he approached me and said, ‘Do you know anywhere in central London? Can you think of anywhere?”
Peter had an idea about using a royal residence as the backdrop for an ice rink, but whether or not the wider family would be keen, was another question.
“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. 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. And fortunately, we’re now in a position where we hopefully will be able to.”
He adds: “Your options are slightly limited when you’re looking for event sites [in central London], having done an event here previously, I knew the various challenges that there are when putting an event on here but at the same time, what a success an event on here could be.”
The ice rink has the capacity for 750 skaters per day, and Peter will soon be able to see the fruit of his labour as he launches Super Early Bird tickets on Wednesdays ahead of the launch on 30 November.
Up until 7 January, guests will be able to enjoy the addition of an impressive festive tree centrepiece at the ice rink. There will also be a variety of sustainable food and beverage options on offer, in addition to retail outlets offering seasonal products and a mixture of games and attractions.
ICE at Kensington Palace has also partnered with premium brands including Cecconi’s, by Soho House, who will provide a unique ‘elevated’ VIP facility on the first floor of the skate exchange with magical views overlooking the ice rink. The venue also has Fortnum & Mason as its official retail partner.
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