Prince Harry, Meghan Markle in South Florida for polo competition, charity benefit

WELLINGTON — Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a surprise visit to Palm Beach County this week, with Harry taking part in a panel in South Beach Thursday and the couple spending time in Wellington on Friday for a polo match.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who now live in California, arrived around 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Grand Champions Polo Club for the Royal Salute Polo Challenge to benefit Sentebale.

They were shuttled to the field that sits west of the National Polo Center. The couple stopped for photos with Sentebale executives and friends, including polo player Nacho Figueras and his wife, Delfina. Nacho played in Friday's match.

Harry and Nacho went to prepare for their match while Meghan and Delfina stepped into the temporary viewing area.

Harry and Meghan did not take questions.

This is the second time Harry, 39, has played polo in Wellington. In 2016 a similar Sentebale charity event was held at Valiente Polo Farms.

That year, his stop was quick, playing the match and immediately heading to Orlando. On Friday, after the trophy presentation, Harry was scheduled to attend a dinner at the Santa Rita Polo Farm in Wellington.

Harry is a co-founder of Sentebale, which works with children in Lesotho and  Botswana, in Southern Africa, impacted by poverty and health issues like HIV.  Sentebale means "forget-me-not" in Sesotho, the language of Lesotho.

Harry was part of a panel Thursday at Zaytinya, a restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton in South Beach, to address health and wealth inequity, and climate challenges facing youth in Africa.

The fundraiser, which was not publicized for security reasons, featured three teams, Royal Salute Sentebale, Grand Champions and Maseru. Grand Champions is captained by Figueras.

"Harry has been breeding horses and playing polo from a very young age," Figueras said. "He's a very good rider, he's a very good athlete, he has great hand-eye coordination. He's very competitive. It's always fun to share the field with him."

Harry and Figueras often play together but Friday was one of the few days were were on competing teams.

"Been a few days we've been punching each other over who's going to win," said Figueras, 47, a 5-goal handicap.

Harry is a 1-goal handicap. His team included 10-goaler Poroto Cambiaso, Malcolm Borwick (5) and Dana Barnes (0). Polo players are rated on a scale of minus-2 to 10, with -2 being a novice player. Professionals generally carry a handicap of 5 or above.

Wellington has become known for hosting royalty mainly because of its sprawling polo and equestrian community. Harry's father, Prince Charles, now the King of the United Kingdom, gave the village worldwide notoriety when he started playing polo in Wellington more than four decades ago.

Known then as the most famous polo player in the world, King Charles visited several times, including 1985 when he was joined by Princess Diana, a spectacle that drew more than 15,000 people to the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club.

King Charles' highest rating was a 4-handicap.

More:Between Prince Charles, Harry visits, much has changed in Wellington

After watching his father play polo, Harry started playing at a young age, often with his older brother, Prince William. He has become more active in the sport since he and Meghan moved to Montecito, Calif., in 2020 and Harry started training and playing at the Santa Barbara Polo Club.

Harry and Meghan heading up two Netflix projects

On Thursday, it was announced Harry and Meghan are the executive producers of two Netflix projects, one of those focused on polo and filmed primarily in Wellington, including cameras following around the couple Friday.

The polo series was shot at the U.S. Open Polo Championship, which started March 22 and concludes April 21. According to a press release, it will "pull the curtain back on the grit and passion of the sport, capturing players and all it takes to compete at the highest level."

Both shows are in early stages of production, and their titles and release dates will be announced in the coming months. 

More:Shariah Harris makes history as first Black woman to play in US Open Women's Polo Championship

Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and golf writer for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.