Prince Philip visited Massey College last Thursday, paying tribute to a college well-associated with the Royal Family during its 40-year history.

Arriving in a limousine from the Royal York Hotel at 10:45 a.m., Philip was greeted by heavy security outside the gates of the college on Devonshire Place.

Philip’s first stop was the Master’s Lodging, where he met John Fraser, the college’s Master, and Fraser’s family.

Inside, the crowd waited in the Indian Summer sunshine, eating finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off and drinking tea and Perrier. Wasps crawled over the tarts and cookies.

The crowd—invited guests as well as the Fellows, or students of the college—waited for Philip’s arrival by chatting with each other about how Philip managed to stand for so long at events.

“I think he has steel rods in his legs,” speculated one Fellow, dressed in the college’s black robes trimmed with an embroidered rose at the back.

“It’s just like a wedding,” commented another guest.

The press corps waited impatiently, testing their microphones and comparing the inevitable stories of other Royal visits they covered.

In the college building, Philip was made an honorary Fellow of the college by Nobel Prize-winner John Polanyi and Ursula Franklin, both U of T professors. After Philip emerged from the ceremony, he made his way through the crowd, stopping to chat with the Fellows who thrust their way to the side of the walkway.

Staff from the dining room watched from the second storey windows, adding to the Victorian atmosphere of the proceedings.

At the podium, Fraser introduced his guest by boasting that Massey College would pay for the dry-cleaning on Philip’s new ceremonial robes.

“You are about to watch the world’s most experienced plaque unveiler at work,” Philip said, before lifting the cloth that covered a plaque marking the Prince’s visit to the college.

Philip’s remarks were brief. He mentioned laying the cornerstone of the college 40 years ago, and then told a story about a cornerstone laid by an Australian Governor-General in the 19th century, for a parliament building that was never built.

As Philip left, the crowd snapped photos and Philip again spoke to people lined up along the path.

After looking over the college cornerstone at the entrance, he got into the limousine and sped away.

Photograph by Simon Turnbull