Prince Harry wins charity polo tournament in Colorado

Prince Harry won his latest polo game – a charity tournament in Colorado – after scoring an impressive five goals.

The Duke of Sussex’s Sentebale Team won the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup in Aspen, Colorado on Thursday – due in large part to the 37 year-old royal’s horseback skills. 

Harry joined his friend and teammate Nacho Figueras for the tournament, which saw Sentebale take on multiple other teams.

A commentator watching the game praised Harry’s skills, saying: ‘He went coast to coast, like buttered toast,’ Hello! magazine reported. 

Harry was also seen laughing after missing a goal, but it all came good in the end for the Duke- who accepted a prize on behalf of his teammates.  

Harry played to raise funds and awareness for his charity of the same name, which helps children and adolescents in Africa come to terms with their HIV diagnosis.

The prince, who is currently living in his $14 million mansion in California having stepped back from royal duty, was joined by his longtime friend and the charity’s ambassador: Argentine polo player Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Figueras.

Figueras has played polo alongside Prince Harry, in various matches over the years, attended the royal wedding and was among the first to meet his son Archie in 2019. 

They are now battling it out against the Royal Salute and the US Polo Association teams in a round robin tournament.

Ahead of sporting his polo kit, Harry opted for a fashionable cream blazer, teamed with a white shirt and matching trousers for his outing today – which comes just days after his wife, Meghan Markle, released her Spotify podcast Archetypes. 

It’s thought the Duchess of Sussex won’t be joining her husband at the polo match today – despite having been a regular fixture while Harry has played in Los Angeles over the past year.

Earlier in the day, Harry was spotted arriving for a flight on a private jet to set off for the polo match – before the aircraft sat idling on the tarmac for at least 30 minutes as it waited for his staff to arrive in a gas-guzzling SUV to drop off his polo kit. 

He then boarded the $9million Bombardier Challenger 600 at a Santa Barbara airport around 11am on Wednesday to head to the event in Aspen to compete in the round robin tournament. 

Harry, who regularly preaches his views about the climate crisis hitting the world, arrived at the airport close to his $14million Montecito home in an electric Audi SUV. 

But he then sat in the idling private jet for 30 minutes before the royal’s staff arrived with his polo gear in a black Range Rover at around 11.35am. 

Two men were seen ferrying Harry’s green kit bag and mallets to the plane in a golf cart before placing them in the cargo hold. 

The private jet is owned by Florida-based businessman Marc Ganzi, who is a longtime friend of Harry’s and a polo enthusiast.

The Ganzi family have played with Harry’s brother William and father Prince Charles previously in London several times, and were already at the club in Colorado ahead of the event today. 

Harry and Meghan have been slammed on multiple occasions as hypocrites for their use of private jets, despite preaching about ‘making a difference’ and the need for ‘urgent intervention’ to halt climate change.

The prince has previously defended his use of private jets and insisted that 99 per cent of his air travel is via commercial flights. He claimed he tried to balance out the effects of private flights by off-setting his CO2 emissions in 2019. 

Meghan, 41, won’t be joining Harry at his match today, Delfina Blaquier, the wife of Nacho Figueras, confirmed on Instagram. 

Sharing a picture of Meghan, Harry and herself from a previous polo match, Delfina wrote: ‘So excited for today!! Giving back, helping others, embracing friendships, and empowering our younger generations. I really encourage you to follow @sentebale.

‘The Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup is held yearly and serves as the single largest fundraising moment for the charity to advance its mission on behalf of young people across Lesotho and Botswana. #SentebaleISPSPolo #PoloForGood – M will miss you today.’

Ahead of the match, Nacho posted a gushing post about the Duke on Instagram alongside a picture of the two playing together last year, adding: ‘I love playing with you and even more so if we are raising money form this great cause. 

‘Thank you to everyone supporting this event today at the The Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup is held yearly and serves as the single largest fundraising moment for the charity to advance its mission on behalf of young people across Lesotho and Botswana.’

The Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup is held yearly at the Aspen Valley Polo Club, and serves as the single-largest fundraising event for the charity to advance its mission on behalf of young people across Lesotho and Botswana. 

Sentable was set up in 2006 by Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho.

The charity works with children and young people in southern Africa whose lives have been affected by extreme poverty, inequality, HIV/AIDS and, more recently, Covid-19.

Ahead of the event, Harry said: ‘We are delighted to return once again to the stunning grounds of Aspen Valley Polo Club for the annual Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup.

‘Sixteen years ago, Prince Seeiso and I founded Sentebale in honour of our mothers’ work in HIV, and named after my mum’s favourite flower, the ‘forget-me-not’ in Sesotho, representing our commitment to always remembering and advocating for those in need.

‘We are all proud of the support we are able to give the young people of Lesotho and Botswana to feel empowered, healthy, resilient, and able to thrive.

‘The funds raised this year will be invested in these communities at a critical time, as inequalities have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

‘We are enormously grateful to our partners and supporters here today, especially our long-standing title sponsor, ISPS Handa, for making the day possible.’

Dr Haruhisa Handa, founder of international sports promotion society, ISPS Handa, said the work done by Harry and Prince Seeiso had ‘changed the landscape for the care of those suffering from HIV/AIDS in Lesotho and beyond’.

Harry’s friend Nacho has been a long-time supporter of the Sussexes and vocally defended them in the press.

He appeared on Ellen’s show in September 2019 to announce that he would ‘defend his friends’ with his life and has even launched a royal-inspired scent.

And in recent months, Nacho and Harry put on a particularly tactile display while playing polo together at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club. 

Described by Tatler as ‘the David Beckham of Polo’ he now holds a 6-goal handicap and an estimated net worth of $30 million and has been modelling for Ralph Lauren since 2000. 

Speaking about his friendship with the royal, Nacho told Town and Country magazine in 2019: ‘What I like the most about him is how real he is and how serious he is about improving life for kids that have not had the blessings that we’ve had.’

Harry’s outing comes days after Meghan released her first bombshell podcast Archetypes, in which she disclosed a number of personal stories about her life with the Duke.

Among them was a claim that a fire broke out in her son Archie’s room during a royal tour in South Africa in 2019. 

A royal expert said yesterday the Duchess would have known that the ‘show must go on’ and her engagements had to continue after the situation.

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline he does not think the Palace will be ‘unduly concerned’ at what Meghan said about the fire incident.

Archie, then four months old, was not in the room in Cape Town when a heater started to smoke – but the incident left the Duchess of Sussex ‘shaken’ and ‘in tears’, she told tennis star Serena Williams in her new podcast.

Others are understood to recall the incident which took place on September 23, 2019 – and while they do not remember there actually being a fire, the heater was certainly smoking and was unplugged and dealt with.

Despite the upset, Meghan said in the Spotify podcast released yesterday that she was obliged to continue with official engagements, accusing those running the tour of concentrating on ‘how it looks, instead of how it feels’.

And sources have defended the Duchess over the incident, saying it would have understandably caused concern to any parent. The Sussexes were subsequently moved to different accommodation as the tour continued.