Celebration of Prince Edward buying the EP Ranch

One day, the prince did come — and he put down some roots out west in the Foothills. 

The EP Ranch — Edward Prince Ranch — celebrated the 100^th anniversary on Sept. 15 of Prince Edward coming to the Foothills area and ultimately buying the Bedingfeld Ranch located west of the Bar U Ranch.

All as a result of the Prince enjoying a nice hike now and then.

“Behind the barn is the hill that the Prince climbed up to go looking for prairie chickens,” said tour guide Jennifer Bartlett at the EP Ranch on Sept. 15. “Everyone went by horseback but he preferred to go by foot.”

The Prince had made a whirlwind stop in High River on Sept. 15, 1919 and then was whisked to the Bar U in a motorcade with legendary rancher George Lane, a member of the fame Big Four which started the Calgary Stampede. He made the trek up the hill on foot, with Bar U employee Prof. W.T. Carlyle.

Upon reaching the top of the hill, the Prince was amazed.

“That is when the Prince saw the Bedingfeld Ranch and he proclaimed it as one of the most beautiful places he has seen and he made a comparison that it gave him the same feeling that Balmoral did,” Bartlett said.

Prince Edward, the Duke of Wales, paid the then princely sum of $113,000 for the ranch back in 1919.

It was far from being the Prince’s main residence. He would visit the ranch a handful of times before selling in 1962. 

“He actually only visited the ranch five times,” Bartlett said. “He came back in 1923, 1927, 1941 and then very, very briefly in 1950…. The first visits were very, very enthusiastic, but as time went on, a little bit less enthusiastic.”

A lot would happen in the time the Prince owned the EP. He would become King in 1936 before abdicating later that year due to in part to his scandalous love for Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American socialite. (King George VI, the father of the reigning Queen Elizabeth and of Oscar-winning The King’s Speech fame succeeded him.)

Edward would marry Simpson in 1937. She visited the EP Ranch a couple of times.

“She came in ’41 and in 1950,” Bartlett said. “The last visit they came in April and we all know what April can be like here. Snow everywhere, super cold, windy — they stayed a day.”

Much as changed at the EP home since Prince Edward owned the ranch. There are two portions of the house from that era still being used. They include the reception room and a veranda looking just to the west.

The reception room still has much of the original furniture used Prince Edward. The fireplace is still the same. The letters ‘E’ and ‘P’ are cast in stone from that era.

Some well known people came to visit, and might have had a cup of tea in front of the fireplace.

“Winston Churchill was here, (United Kingdom prime minister) Stanley Baldwin was here,” Bartlett said.

As well, the Prince’s brother, the future King George VI and his famous wife Elizabeth-Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon visited the EP.

Two small bedrooms, upstairs from the reception area, are presently being restored.

At present, the manager’s house from the EP ranch is still on site. As is an old chicken coop, which is currently being restored.

The chicken coop was devastated by the 2013 flood.

The EP Ranch was — and still is — a working ranch. Several ribbons from the EP Ranch winning livestock awards while the Prince owned it have been found during the renovations of the facility.

Mike McLean of the Bar U Ranch, said while the Prince’s stays at the EP were short, Edward was known for rolling up his sleeves and getting some work done.