Prince Harry scores goal in charity polo match as Meghan and 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 drew a crowd of media and the wealthy on Friday as they competed in a professional celebrity polo match to benefit Sentebale, the charity he founded in 2006 for children and young people living in the United States. southern African countries of Lesotho and Botswana.

Harry, Meghan and their friend, Argentine polo player and model Nacho Figueras, were followed by a film crew from the same production company that produces the football reality show “Welcome to Wrexham” for a 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 for the polo that “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” had for the world motorsport circuit. Harry and Meghan will serve as executive producers.

“We have been working on this for a long time. It has always been 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 was captain of one of the two teams that played against the prince’s team, said before the abbreviated matches that he and Harry had exchanged a lot of banter in recent days during Friday’s competition. They have worked together at Sentebale since 2007.

“We joke a lot about who’s going to win,” Figueras said. Harry, he said, is “a very good driver, he’s a very good athlete, he’s got 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 suburban Palm Beach County, Harry’s Royal Salute Sentebale team defeated Figueras’ team 3-1, with the prince scoring the opening goal. He picked up the ball in midfield – 150 yards (137 meters) from goal – and hit it repeatedly the rest of the way, sending it past the posts. He also prevented his friend from a possible escape, although he let out a loud scream of frustration when he lost a pass to a teammate that could have led to a goal.

In their first match of the day against Maseru Team, Royal Sentebale won 1-0, but the prince missed an open and accurate shot.

With Sentebale winning both matches, Harry received the trophy for winning the mini-tournament — and a kiss on the cheek — from Meghan.

About 300 spectators attended the games, 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 the charity, organizers said. According to its latest annual report, Sentabale raised about $6 million in fiscal 2022, with about half of that coming from the United States.

Harry has been estranged for several years from members of his family, including his older brother, Prince William, heir to the throne. Any disagreement was further compounded by his 2023 memoir, “Spare,” which recounted sibling complaints, including an occasion when he said his brother tore off his necklace and dropped it into a dog bowl.

Harry stepped back 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 the star of the TV show “Suits.” The couple have two children, Archie, 4, and Lilibet, 2.