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Colonel Paul Belcher
Late Welsh Guards
by Paul de Zulueta
formerly Welsh Guards
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Colonel Paul Belcher’s most important contribution to the Household Division was, ironically, after he left the Army. In 2002, Paul became chairman of the Guards Polo Club although he had never played the game. He had struck up a friendship with Prince Philip who was concerned that the values and ethos of the Club were being wrestled away by those who saw it as a playground for their social ambitions and bulging wallets. Paul, with a highly able chief executive, the former Scots Guardsman Charlie Stisted, turned the Club into one of the largest and most respected polo clubs in the world. Charlie, tragically, was to lose his life in a helicopter crash in 2010.
Paul was destined to join the Royal Navy after he had completed his education at Pangbourne Nautical College, but his eyesight was not up to it, and unlike the immortal Nelson of Trafalgar could not turn a blind eye and say ‘I see no ships’. Paul joined the Welsh Guards in Aden in 1965 and from then on, his career followed a steady trajectory which played to his strengths as a sound and articulate administrator. Though he had no connections with Wales or the Regiment, he quickly embraced its heritage and became a tenor in the Welsh Guards choir. Men of Harlech would bring him to tears and he was one of the very few Welsh Guards officers who could recite the national anthem in Welsh.
Paul was adjutant of the Guards Depot under John Ghika, Irish Guards, father of Major General Sir Christopher Ghika, and for his last year at the Depot under Iain Ferguson, Scots Guards. It was just before his time at the Depot that Paul met Sanda Cowan, from a well-established American/Scots family. They were married at the Guards’ Chapel on 17th March 1972. They were a hospitable couple and, throughout Paul’s career, did everything they could to contribute to the well-being and happiness of those with whom they served.
Paul attended the Staff College where he impressed the Directing Staff sufficiently to be given a demanding appointment at the MOD at the end of the course. He was good with a pen and equally adept at briefing senior officers and government ministers. After commanding a company in BAOR, Paul was selected to command the Battalion on a tour in Belize that had an important operational element as well as great opportunities for adventurous training and an exciting social life for all ranks.
Paul returned to the MOD as a colonel in Army Doctrine, an appointment to which he was well suited. A Household Division officer who served with Paul at the time remarked that he went out of his way to stand up for those working for him at a time when some senior officers were still inclined to be ill-mannered towards their staff. He served in Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers (SHAPE) in Brussels from 1993-1996, one of the happiest periods of his army career as both Sanda and Paul threw themselves into the eclectic social life that Brussels had to offer, making many life-long friends. His last appointment was chief of staff at London District under Major General Sir Evelyn Webb-Carter.
His social and diplomatic skills, honed in Brussels and London District, were at a premium when he took over as chairman of the Guards Polo Club. He made it his business to get on with everyone from grooms to members of the Royal Family who took a strong and astute interest in the Club’s development. His address at the opening by The Queen of the newly re-developed Clubhouse in 2009 was Paul at his best: measured, polite and discreet, not an easy task given the club’s disparate clientele.
Paul’s last years were spent on the borders of West Sussex and Surrey where he and Sanda were convivial members of a vibrant and artistic community. They were a devoted couple and equally devoted to their four children and twelve grandchildren. There was standing room only at Paul’s funeral at St Peter’s Church, Linchmere. Just a few months later, Sanda who was fighting cancer at the time of Paul’s death, succumbed to her illness. They had been married for 53 years, and his loss had been unbearable. Sanda’s funeral took place at the same church. Despite the loss of a much-loved couple within months of each other, the congregation was uplifted by their children’s heartfelt tributes. |
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