Owners of field where Prince Harry lost his virginity joke about putting up ‘a blue plaque’

The owners of the Wiltshire field, where Prince Harry lost his virginity to boyfriend Sasha Walpole, have joked that they will have to put up a “blue plaque” because of how famous their plot has become.

Dean Ellwood and his partner Anna Pitt-Stanley own the field behind The Vine Tree Inn, which belonged to the pub in 2001 but has now been transferred to their estate as part of their estate, Splash Cottage.

The couple, who bought the cottage eight years ago, are said to have laughed when they discovered their small plot in Norton had become famous, but several weeks later, the excitement over the patch shows no sign of abating.

Ellwood told the Sun: ‘I suppose I could put a blue plaque on the field, but I don’t think many people are interested.’

Ms Pitt-Stanley added: “Everyone in town is talking about it, but I don’t think we’ll set up a gift shop selling souvenirs.”

The field is located behind The Vine Tree Inn (pictured left), but now belongs to nearby Splash Cottage

Prince Harry, now 38, shocked the world in January when he revealed how he lost his virginity in his memoir, Spare.

He described his partner as an “older woman” who loved horses, whom he took outside a country pub in Wiltshire when she was 17.

In Spare, Harry writes that the ‘inglorious’ encounter was ‘a quick ride, after which she bumped my rump and sent me off to pasture’.

As the world speculated about who his match might have been, a Wiltshire bulldozer driver received a text from a friend informing him that Prince Harry had just revealed details of their secret date to the world, a secret he had kept for the last few years. 21 years. years.

Last weekend the Mail on Sunday exclusively revealed that the ‘older woman’ was in fact Sasha Walpole, now 40, who was on the eve of her 19th birthday at the time.

Mrs Walpole met Prince William before coming into contact with his younger brother, at a comedy night starring the late Cornish comedian Jethro at Beaufort Hunt Kennels.

She had recently started working at Highgrove as a hairdresser’s assistant, aged just 17.

She subsequently befriended Harry at one of her favorite pubs, The Rattlebone Inn, in the nearby Wiltshire village of Sherston.

They bonded over their love of all things equestrian and stories of their escapades on their own horse Beano.

His close friendship with Harry was born from a common understanding: ‘Everyone was equal in the world of horses.

Sasha Walpole, 40, is a digger driver from Wiltshire but used to be a groom’s helper in Highgrove.

Ms Walpole (left) and Prince Harry (right) were in a group of friends who bonded over horses when they were teenagers.

The Vine Tree Pub, Norton, Wiltshire, where Prince Harry had sex with Sasha Walpole in a field

English Heritage blue plaque honoring the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, seen in the Chelsea flat she used to rent

“Our group was a very mixed bunch of polo players, grooms, hunting staff and racing people, a cosmopolitan crowd.

‘It didn’t matter if you were a stable boy, a royal or a horseman. There was no trial.

‘Harry didn’t act like a prince, there was no snobbery. Honestly, we were just two fellows talking about horses.

But their friendship ended abruptly when a quick smoke break turned into a romp in a field, and they never spoke again.

Ms Walpole said: ‘It was instant, hot, wham bam, between two friends. It was sparkling because we shouldn’t have.

‘He wasn’t ‘Prince Harry’ to me, he was Harry, my friend, and things had gotten a bit out of hand. He felt naughty, I guess, in the sense that it shouldn’t be happening.

“We didn’t set out to do it, it wasn’t premeditated and I didn’t know I was a virgin. There were no virgin vibes, he seemed to know what she was doing.

‘It was fast, wild, exciting. We were both drunk. It wouldn’t have happened if we weren’t.

Prince Harry married Meghan Markle and moved to California, a world away from Wiltshire

A younger Sasha Walpole dressed up for a polo ball, back when she was friends with the princes.

She recalled seeing him hiding in a phone box as she was leaving the pub on her way home, and the encounter marked the end of Sasha’s friendship with Harry.

More than two decades later, the course’s owners have joked about installing a blue plaque or even a gift shop as the site’s fame spreads around the world.

The blue plaques, produced by the English Heritage organization, are scattered around London and commemorate places where important people have lived, worked or spent time.

There are almost 1,000 in the capital with a history of more than 150 years.

The English Heritage website states: ‘London’s famous blue plaques link the people of the past to the buildings of the present.

‘Now run by English Heritage, London’s blue plate scheme was started in 1866 and is believed to be the oldest of its kind in the world.

“Throughout the capital, more than 990 plaques, on buildings both humble and grand, honor the notable men and women who lived or worked in them.”

Many members of the royal family have their own blue plaques, including Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana.

English Heritage welcomes plaque suggestions from members of the public, but the main obstacle to a blue plaque in the case of this field may not be a lack of interest as Dean fears, but a simple geographical boundary.

Nearly 100 miles away, English Heritage is unlikely to extend as far as Splash Cottage.