In entrance of rolling cameras and a crowd of practically 300 friends, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, barreled towards one finish of a polo discipline in South Florida on Friday.
“The Duke of Sussex could rating a purpose!” an announcer cried by way of a loudspeaker on the Royal Salute Polo Problem to Profit Sentebale, which was attended by spectators together with Serena Williams and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and by movie crews with Netflix. The streamer is producing a polo-related undertaking with Harry and Meghan that was introduced on Thursday and that can be filmed in Wellington, an prosperous space close to Palm Seashore recognized for its equestrian scene.
The announcer and lots of within the crowd groaned audibly when Harry missed the shot. He was carrying a blue and white jersey with the No. 2 on it, together with a brand for Sentebale, a charitable group he based to assist youngsters within the African nations Lesotho and Botswana, and a brand for Royal Salute, a whisky model and a sponsor of the invitation-only charity match involving three groups.
The occasion came about on the Grand Champions Polo Membership and its organizers included Melissa and Marc Ganzi, members of Wellington’s polo neighborhood in addition to the founders of the World Polo League and the house owners of the Grand Champions membership. The Ganzis additionally personal the Santa Rita Polo Farm in Wellington and the Aspen Valley Polo Membership in Colorado. Mr. Ganzi is the chief govt of Digital Bridge, an funding agency previously often called Colony Capital, the place he succeeded Thomas J. Barrack Jr., the chairman of former President Donald J. Trump’s inaugural committee.
Harry, 39, one of many highest-profile polo gamers on the earth, competed within the match with different stars of the game just like the famend Argentine participant Adolfo Cambiaso; the English participant Malcolm Borwick, an envoy for Royal Salute; and Nacho Figueras, the Argentine athlete who has frequently confronted off towards Harry on polo fields and whose profession has made him a face not solely of the game but additionally of Ralph Lauren, a model that has intertwined its id with polo.
Harry’s workforce finally gained the match, and was offered with a trophy by Meghan, who acquired cheers from the gang as she approached a podium on a stage to ship the award in a cream-colored Heidi Merrick halter costume and towering nude Aquazzura pumps.
Meghan, after being assisted up a staircase to the stage, walked previous the opposite gamers on the profitable workforce and straight towards her husband. “Me?” Harry mentioned jokingly to his spouse, pointing towards his chest and feigning shock earlier than the couple leaned in for a somewhat cinematic kiss — the Netflix cameras had been there, in any case.
The Sussexes’ polo undertaking is one in all two newly introduced initiatives involving their multiyear cope with the streamer; the opposite undertaking, in accordance with Deadline, will give attention to Meghan and actions like cooking, gardening and entertaining. Final month Meghan, 42, introduced on social media the beginning of one other new enterprise, a life-style model referred to as American Riviera Orchard, a few week earlier than Catherine, Princess of Wales, revealed she had been identified with most cancers.
The Royal Salute Polo Problem got here on the finish of the skilled polo season in the US, which takes place largely in Wellington from January by way of April. The U.S. Open Polo Championship finals are scheduled to happen subsequent weekend on the Nationwide Polo Middle in Wellington. The skilled tour then strikes to Europe for the summer season and to South America within the fall.
As Mr. Borwick, the English participant, put it: “Polo season follows the solar.” In an interview earlier than the match on Friday, he mentioned that “the game has modified a lot” as investments in polo have reworked it into “a totally skilled sport.”
“It was completely acceptable to depart the bar at 3 o’clock within the morning and go play skilled polo the subsequent day,” Mr. Borwick mentioned, describing the game’s evolution as “an unbelievable journey.”
“For us, as professionals occurring that journey, it has been a problem to repeatedly adapt and alter,” Mr. Borwick mentioned.
