Beverly Hills Doctor Won't Be On Call For Prince William As Reported
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A Beverly Hills doctor is reining in recent comments about the upcoming royal visit to the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club.
Doctor Toby Mayer originally said he planned to be on stand-by in case Prince William needed medical attention during Saturday's polo match. But the polo club said Mayer was not invited.
A publicity e-mail was sent to media world-wide with the heading: "Beverly Hills plastic surgeon to keep Prince William pretty".
The release led to several news articles including one by The Los Angeles Times headlined, "Royal visit: Prince William, the polo match and the plastic surgeon".
The news referred to Mayer, a Beverly Hills Surgeon, as a doctor on call for William's upcoming polo match scheduled for Saturday.
But the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club said that is not the case.
"So now they're just upset because I did an interview with the media," Mayer said.
He said that he had been chosen to be on call, but that the plan was called off after he gave interviews.
"I was told by the Polo Club manager that I was selected to be the surgeon on call if the Prince should be injured. Because I've sewn up so many people and I was told, 'Yeah, you're going to be the surgeon on call for the Prince," Mayer said.
He said he is a member of the club where he has played polo for 30 years and treated field injuries.
"I know every injury that everyone is going to have. They're usually crush injuries on the face and so, I sew them up in the locker room," he said.
Geannie Sheller, president of the Polo Training Center Santa Barbara, said that while Doctor Mayer is a member and has treated field injuries, he was never asked to be on standby for Prince William.
"The organizing authorities of the Foundation Polo Challenge contracted an EMT and ambulance service for the event… The organizers did not request Doctor Mayer be in attendance." Sheller said in a written statement.
"I'm very frustrated with this. Yes, 30 years of sewing up hundreds of people gratis and this is just politics, that's all it is. Someone saying, 'well we want to control all of the media,'" Mayer said.
Tickets for Saturday's match range from $400 to $4,000, but Doctor Mayer said he will not be buying one.
"No, I won't be at the match on Saturday. And I will be thinking twice about the way we handle things in the future at the Polo Club," he said.
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