The organisers of the Duke of Edinburgh's visit to the Wanstead Flat Playing Fields, on the southernmost part of Epping Forest, London, made a slight error which caused the Duke to be mobbed by a thousand or so schoolchildren. The organising committee forgot that the schoolchildren in the area were on holiday on the day of the visit. May 8th.

The Duke arrived by helicopter, accompanied by the General Secretary of the National Playing Fields Association Vice Admiral G. Norman, on a cordoned off part of the playing fields. The chairman of the Wanstead Playing Fields Association, Col. Arthur Noble welcomed the Duke and conducted him on a tour of the playing fields and the main pavilion. As they walked through a lane in the crowd the children broke through the police escort and began pushing and shoving.

The Duke called out, "Stop shoving!" but the kids kept hustling each other and him. One youngster pulled at the Duke's trouser leg to attract his attention. Slowly the party moved along and eventually escaped the pressing, shoving, cheering mass. Because of the unmanageable crowd various sports demonstrations were cancelled and the Duke travelled on to Leyten to tour more playing and recreation fields.