By KEVIN GRAY
Associated Press
HURLINGHAM, Argentina -- Prince Charles played polo in Argentina on
Wednesday, relaxing midway through a three-day visit in which he struck
a tone of
reconciliation with Britain's former wartime adversary.
The Prince of Wales also toured the local bank branch of Lloyd's of London,
visited a steel factory and planned an evening reception with descendants
of
English immigrants after polo at the Hurlingham Club.
``I've always wanted to go to a polo match. They say it's the sport of
kings. This
time I'm lucky enough to see a prince,'' exclaimed Wouter Berkhout, 24,
a visitor
from the Netherlands.
The prince, wearing white riding pants and a green jersey with red trim,
saddled up
for five periods of polo in what was dubbed the Prince of Wales Cup. The
competition included local players.
The relaxed outing stood in contrast to a protest Tuesday, when an angry
throng
tried to march on a Buenos Aires hotel where Charles dined with President
Carlos
Menem and danced the tango with Menem's 28-year-old daughter, Zulema.
Demonstrators clashed with riot police, who responded with tear gas. Six
people
were reported injured and police made 58 arrests.
The outburst tarnished the visit of reconciliation by the Prince of Wales,
the most
senior member of British royalty to visit Argentina since the 1982 war
over the
Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as Las Malvinas.
The prince's visit ends today, when he heads to Uruguay before traveling
to the
Falklands.
Menem's visit to London was the first by an Argentine president to Britain
since
the 1982 battle for the Falklands, the remote British-occupied islands
in the South
Atlantic that Argentina has claimed since the early 19th Century.
At the outset of his trip, the prince on Tuesday laid a wreath before a
Buenos
Aires memorial honoring the 750 Argentines who died in the Falklands War.
Copyright © 1999 The Miami Herald