An unexpected intervention from Windsor Castle saved the famous World Championships conker — the traditional British game of chestnuts — threatened with cancellation this year. The event, held Sunday in the village of Southwick, England, was finally able to go ahead as planned thanks to a royal delivery of chestnuts, after a disastrous harvest due to an exceptionally hot and dry summer.
The horse chestnut trees, from which the inedible fruit used in this popular game is grown, had not produced their usual quantity, depriving organizers of the raw material essential to the competition. Faced with this shortage, Windsor Castle offered a shipment from its own trees, allowing the annual tradition to continue.
Le conker, a game played for generations in the United Kingdom, involves threading a chestnut onto a string and hitting your opponent's chestnut until it breaks. The event attracts hundreds of participants and curious onlookers from all over the world each year, in an atmosphere that is both festive and nostalgic.
The 2025 edition took place under a radiant sky, in a friendly atmosphere combining competition, music, and typically British humor. The organizers thanked the Royal Household for its symbolic gesture, which they described as an "unexpected rescue" of a tradition that is part of the country's cultural heritage.
"Without the Windsor Chestnuts, we would have had to cancel for the first time in over 50 years," said one of the event's organizers. Thanks to this "royal delivery," the champions of conker were able to compete as they do every autumn, preserving a custom that continues to stir the hearts of the British.
