Prince Harry scores goal in charity polo match as Meghan, Netflix cameras look on
WELLINGTON, Fla. — WELLINGTON, Fla. (AP) — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan may have given up their royal duties, but not the celebrity life.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attracted a crowd of media and wealthy people on Friday when he played in a famous pro-am polo match in aid of Sentebale, the charity he founded in 2006 for children and young adults living in the countries of southern Africa. Lesotho and Botswana.
Harry, Meghan and their friend, Argentine polo player and model Nacho Figueras, were followed by a camera crew from the same production company that makes the football reality show ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ for an upcoming Netflix miniseries that will focus on polo.
Harry did not speak to reporters. But Figueras said he hopes the show will have the same impact on polo that “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” had for the global auto racing circuit. Harry and Meghan will serve as executive producers.
“We have been working on this for a long time. It was always Harry’s dream and passion to share with the world what it takes to be a truly competitive polo player at the highest level,” said Figueras.
Figueras, who captained one of the two teams that played the prince’s side, said before the shortened matches that he and Harry criticized each other a lot in recent days during Friday’s competition. They have been working together on Sentebale since 2007.
“We joke a lot about who’s going to win,” Figueras said. Harry, he said, is “a very good rider, he’s a very good athlete, he has great hand-eye coordination. He’s very competitive. He’s a very good polo player.”
In Friday’s matches at the Grand Champions Polo Club in the Palm Beach County suburb, Harry’s Royal Salute Sentebale team defeated Figueras’ selection 3-1, with the prince scoring the opening goal. He collected the ball in midfield – 137 yards from goal – and smashed it repeatedly through the goalposts the rest of the way. He also stopped his friend from a potential escape, although he let out a loud cry of frustration when he missed a pass to a teammate that could have led to a goal.
In his first match of the day against Maseru Team, Royal Sentebale won 1-0, but the prince missed an open shot from close range.
When Sentebale won both matches, Harry received the trophy for winning the mini-tournament – and a kiss on the cheek – from Meghan.
About 300 spectators attended the matches, part of a fundraising weekend that will raise $1 million for Sentebale, organizers said. Since 2006, celebrity polo matches around the world have raised about $15 million for charity, organizers said. According to its latest annual report, Sentabale raised a total of about $6 million in fiscal 2022, with about half of that coming from the United States.
Harry has been estranged from members of his family for years, including his older brother, Prince William, heir to the throne. Any rift was further exacerbated by his 2023 memoir “Spare,” which recounted siblings’ grievances, including one time when he said his brother ripped his chain and hit him on a dog bowl.
Harry stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and he and Meghan moved to Los Angeles, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media.
Before marrying the prince in a royal wedding watched around the world in 2018, the 42-year-old duchess was a star on the TV show “Suits.” The couple have two children, 4-year-old Archie and 2-year-old Lilibet.