Rugby-loving Welshman snaps up Prince Philip's crocodile head for $13,500

David Skipwith

11:09, May 07 2021

DENISE PIPER/STUFF

Bev Long shows off some of her Prince Philip memorabilia and tells Stuff reporter Denise Piper how she
thinks he should be remembered, following his death, aged 99.

The head of a crocodile shot by the late Prince Philip has been snapped up in a TradeMe auction by a
rugby-loving Welshman for $13,500.

Andrew Gidden, who lives in the English village of Pangbourne near Henley-on Thames, called on friends
in New Zealand and Australia to help him buy the preserved crocodile head when Napier woman
Susanna Clark put it up for sale following the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral last month.

The auction failed to reach the $20,000 reserve, but Gidden had placed the highest bid of $13,000, and
was first in line to take up the Buy Now option for $13,500.

* Crikey! How Prince Philip's crocodile ended up on a dining table in Napier

* Prince Philip's crocodile head for sale on TradeMe for $10,000

* Why Queen Elizabeth told the royal family to 'leave' after Prince Philip's funeral

* ‘I couldn’t fight back the tears’: How the royals grieve in private

As a UK resident, Gidden was unable to register with TradeMe, so he called upon a friend in Sydney to
act as an intermediary and do his bidding, while another associate in Auckland arranged shipment of the
artefact to England.

“A friend of mine in Sydney registered [on TradeMe], and she's a very efficient lady and very task-
oriented, so she was relentless. We agreed on a bidding strategy and off she went, and I was lucky
enough to be the winning bidder,” Gidden said.

Napier's Susanna Clark sold the head of the crocodile shot by Prince Phillip in 1957 on TradeMe last
month.

“A mate of mine who lives in Auckland took delivery, boxed it up and sent it off. So fingers crossed it will
arrive.
“That’s the Commonwealth working in perfect harmony. A Welsh guy buying it, with a Kiwi and an
Aussie lending a hand.”

The reptile relic had long served as a tribute to Clark’s late grandfather’s unique connection with the
Duke of Edinburgh.

Clark had inherited the crocodile head, which was gifted to her famous grandfather, Sir Percy Wyn-
Harris, by the Queen’s husband more than 60 years ago.

A longtime fan of Prince Philip, Gidden has previously worked with school children taking part in the
Duke of Edinburgh award programme, while he also has a great affection for New Zealand.

Andrew Gidden snapped up the crocodile head for $13,500.

“I’m a Commonwealth enthusiast,” Gidden said.

“I’ve got a house full of recruitment posters that went up for the Anzacs all over Africa.

“My dad was a captain in the Merchant Navy, and he used to sail between Britain, Australia and New
Zealand. He wasn’t good enough to get into the Royal New Zealand Shipping Company.”

The passionate rugby fan is president of his local Bedwas Club, and had enjoyed opportunities to rub
shoulders with Kiwi expats Sir Graham Henry, Sir Steve Hansen, and Warren Gatland during their
respective stints in charge of the Welsh national side.

Andrew Gidden with former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw.

“There's a great affinity between us Welsh and you Kiwis,” Gidden explained.

“Especially as we helped train three of your greatest coaches.”

Gidden, who owns several food brands and describes himself as one of the UK’s biggest importers of fair
trade cocoa beans, was happy to fork out a small fortune to buy the crocodile head.

He said the price was comparable to a donation he made to the fund to restore the Christchurch
Cathedral while visiting New Zealand for the 2017 British & Irish Lions tour and their drawn test series
against the All Blacks.

“I have no qualms at all [about the price of the crocodile]. I thought it was good value for money,” he
said.

“The last time I was in New Zealand was for the British Lions tour, and I’d put a similar sum into the kitty
for the roof of Christchurch’s Cathedral.

“I was amazed that it was Welsh slate on the roof of that, so I was blown away.”

Andrew Gidden is one of the UK’s biggest importers of fair trade cocoa beans.
Similar to the Kiwi seller, Susanna Clark, who occasionally displayed the crocodile head on her dining
room table, Gidden said it would take pride of place in his living room - though that plan comes with
some rules and restrictions.

“My wife has told me that I’m not to bore people endlessly with the story of what it is or how I came to
own it. So we’ve had to have an amnesty on me being too tedious about it.

“But I’m looking forward to getting it. It’s going to live on top of my fireplace.”

Clark said she was surprised when she found a buyer – despite the high reserve, she doubted anyone
would be prepared to pay big money for the prized item.

Susanna Clark inherited the crocodile head, which was gifted to her late grandfather Sir Percy Wyn-
Harris by Prince Phillip following his Gambian river safari in 1957.

“I couldn’t believe it. There was a bidding war. There were heaps of watchers in the end. So it was quite
exciting,” she said.

Gidden said the relic would be passed down through his family and doubted he’d ever be able to recoup
his money by attempting to sell it in the future.

He had previously instructed his daughter to try and acquire a skull of a saltwater crocodile when she
was due to move to Australia before the onset of Covid-19, which meant she was unable to travel.

“When this came up for sale I phoned her up and said ‘right, pressure’s off on getting the saltwater
crocodile skull – it turns out we might be able to get one that Prince Philip sorted out in 1957!’

Gidden was a fan of the late Prince, describing him as “a legend and was a tremendous force for good.
And I also thought he had a pretty good sense of humour”.

“So the fact that he’d shot some crocodile and gave it to the guy that hosted the trip in the first place,
was kind of indicative of the man. It’s a brilliant story,” he said.

“[Buying the crocodile head] was very much a spur of the moment thing, and it was a wonderful gift for
the world for Susanna to put it up for sale and well done to her.

“I don't suspect it will ever raise as much interest again as it did the week after he passed away. But well
done me for being lucky enough to get it.”
life & style

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Crikey! How Prince Philip's crocodile ended up on a dining table in Napier

David Skipwith

15:36, Apr 16 2021

The crocodile head owned by Susanna Clark, which was gifted to her late grandfather Sir Percy Wyn-
Harris by Prince Philip following his Gambian river safari in 1957.

It's not every day you see a crocodile in suburban New Zealand, but in the lead up to Prince Philip’s
funeral, a Napier family have a reptilian head proudly on display as a tribute to their late grandfather’s
unique connection with the Duke of Edinburgh.

Susanna Clark inherited the preserved head, which was gifted to her famous late grandfather, Sir Percy
Wyn-Harris, by the Queen’s husband more than 60 years ago.

The colourful Sir Percy - an English mountaineer who climbed Mt Everest and also sailed around the
world - worked in the Colonial Service in Africa and served as the Governor of Gambia, where he spent
time with Prince Philip during his royal visit in 1957.

“My grandfather was a remarkable man and lived a remarkable life,” Clark told Stuff.

“Upon his death all his stuff was shipped over to my dad, an only child. And on my father’s death, all of
his bits that he’d inherited from my grandfather were distributed.

“The crocodile head ended up being in my possession - much to my children’s horror at times.”

Susanna Clark says her family are all proud of her late grandfather, Sir Percy Wyn-Harris, who led an
adventurous life.

SUSANNA CLARK/STUFF

Susanna Clark says her family are all proud of her late grandfather, Sir Percy Wyn-Harris, who led an
adventurous life.

The extraordinary tale of Sir Percy’s encounter with the Prince, and the crocodile head, was revealed by
Clark’s brother – Hawke’s Bay farming identity and regular RNZ rural news contributor Steve Wyn-Harris
– on air yesterday.

During their time together, Sir Percy struck up a good rapport with Prince Philip, and would later travel
around the world helping him to establish the Duke Of Edinburgh award, including here in New Zealand.

“I think he was quite taken with my grandfather, [who] had been quite an adventurer,” Steve Wyn-
Harris told RNZ’s Jesse Mulligan.

“He’d climbed to within 900 feet of the top of Everest in 1933, and found George Mallory or [Andrew]
Irvine’s ice axe up there, and done that sort of thing, and they got on pretty well.
“Of course [Prince Philip] was a great conservationist, but obviously not always, because they’d gone
further up the Gambia River on this visit, on a smaller boat, and shot a couple of crocodiles.

“And in all of my growing up, on the back step there was a dried crocodile head pinned to the side of the
house, with ‘shot by his Royal Highness Prince Philip’ underneath.“

He said he thought his sister, who now has possession of the crocodile head, “has it in the middle of her
dining room table when she has flash dinner parties”.

Grainy black and white footage of the Prince’s Gambian river safari still exists, while a picture of the
Duke together with Sir Percy appeared on the cover of a 1957 issue of Paris Match, a French publication.

When asked about his prized croc catch, Prince Philip famously remarked: "It's not a very big one, but at
least it's dead and it took an awful lot of killing!"

Clark admits she doesn’t always have the crocodile head out on show, and only displays it in her private
residence at her home, where she also runs an AirBnB called Hotel Suse.

“I wouldn’t dare put my crocodile head downstairs which is where my guests are. I tend to have it
upstairs.

She says she currently has it out on display in respect for what went on between her grandfather and
Prince Philip.

“So the crocodile head is out there for the week. It may well go away again because I don’t like to scare
too many guests at Hotel Suse.”

Steve Wyn-Harris says the Prince’s crocodile head was a memorable a part of his childhood.

She says friends and other visitors are often “horrified” when first confronted by the grisly relic, but
always change their tune after learning of her grandfather’s royal legacy.

“[They always say] ‘What on earth is that doing on the table? Really? We’re not having crocodile meat
for dinner!?’

“[But] they’re very impressed. And to be fair, it's not our story, it's our grandfather’s story. He was the
one that achieved his life’s work, and he can be extremely proud of it.

“We are extremely proud, as his kin, but it's his doing, not ours. It's a shame we didn’t know him for a bit
longer, that’s all I can say.”

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Prince Philip's crocodile head for sale on TradeMe for $10,000

David Skipwith

12:38, Apr 20 2021

DENISE PIPER/STUFF

Bev Long shows off some of her Prince Philip memorabilia and tells Stuff reporter Denise Piper how she
thinks he should be remembered, following his death, aged 99.

The head of a crocodile shot by the late Prince Philip has been put up for sale on TradeMe.

The preserved crocodile head belonging to Napier’s Susanna Clark has long served as a tribute to her
late grandfather’s unique connection with the Duke of Edinburgh.

Clark inherited the reptile relic, which was gifted to her famous grandfather, Sir Percy Wyn-Harris, by the
Queen’s husband more than 60 years ago.

Following the funeral of Prince Philip on Saturday, Clark made the decision to put the crocodile head up
for auction with the reserve price tag of $10,000, after the story behind its colourful history appeared on
Stuff last week.

“The decision to sell it now was prompted by what was going on in the media in the last week,” Clark
said.

“And I have three children – so which child was I going to choose to give the famous crocodile head to?
It was a very difficult choice.

The crocodile head owned by Susanna Clark, which was gifted to her late grandfather Sir Percy Wyn-
Harris by Prince Phillip following his Gambian river safari in 1957.

The crocodile head owned by Susanna Clark, which was gifted to her late grandfather Sir Percy Wyn-
Harris by Prince Phillip following his Gambian river safari in 1957.
“They’re all young and in their 30s, starting out in their lives, and I thought financial help would be more
beneficial to them than having a crocodile head as a centrepiece for their dinner table.”

Clark made sure to run her idea past her three siblings to check the wider family approved of the
potential sale of one of their grandfather’s once prized possessions.

“I put it out there just to make sure there wouldn’t be an uproar,” she explained. “There hadn’t been an
uproar right at the start when I inherited it, so I doubted that many years later there was going to be an
uproar.

Susanna Clark says her family are all proud of her late grandfather, Sir Percy Wyn-Harris, who led an
adventurous life.

Susanna Clark says her family are all proud of her late grandfather, Sir Percy Wyn-Harris, who led an
adventurous life.

“But I did check. We’re a pretty tight unit as a family, so it wasn’t an issue.”

The extraordinary tale of Sir Percy’s encounter with the Prince, and the crocodile head, was first
revealed by Clark’s older brother – Hawke’s Bay farming identity and regular RNZ rural news contributor
Steve Wyn-Harris – on air last week.

During their time together, Sir Percy struck up a good rapport with Prince Philip and would later travel
around the world helping him to establish the Duke Of Edinburgh award in countries including New
Zealand.

Steve Wyn-Harris was the one who suggested his sister put the croc up for auction.

“I suggested to (Susanna) that she put it on TradeMe, actually,” Steve told Stuff today.

“I said to her ‘do any of your kids want it’ and she said no. So I said, ‘why don’t you put it on TradeMe?’
If ever you were going to sell it, now would be the time to do it.

“So she thought that was a great idea. I did say, seeing as how it's gone to you, you don’t need to check
with your siblings.”

Clark’s TradeMe listing has attracted several nibbles from interested watchers, but she expects the item
would only attract serious bites from loyal royalists eager to obtain a piece of Prince Philip‘s history.

“That’s who I think would be interested in it, absolutely. I’ve got eight watchers. I can’t believe how
many hits I’ve had. So there has been a bit of interest.

“I should really write a letter to the Queen. I’m sure she’d like to take it off my hands.”
Clark, who runs an AirBnB in Napier, says she is not fussed if the item doesn’t sell, and will make sure to
hang on to the crocodile head if bids fail to reach the $10,000 reserve.

“No, it is more for the fun of it and to carry on the story,” she said.“It would be one of those stories that
goes down in our family history books, you can guarantee it.

“If it doesn't sell, people can still come to Hotel Suse and request an audience with the crocodile head.”