If you haven’t yet had the early days of the Trump presidency eternal sunshine-d from your brain, cast your mind back to May 2017, when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sent royal watchers’ eyebrows flying up under their fascinators after getting caught holding hands at the Polo Challenge in Ascot’s Coworth Park. Seven years later, it’s déjà vu all over again this week, with the now Duke and Duchess of Sussex engaging in some light PDA at the polo in (quick Google)… Florida?
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Friday.Photo: Yaroslav Sabitov / PA Images / Getty Images
The sum total of my knowledge of polo amounts to one late-night viewing of Pretty Woman (key takeaways: wear polka dots, resist “Come on, Dover”ing, steer clear of Jason Alexander), so I won’t attempt to weigh in on what happened during the Royal Salute Polo Challenge match on Friday. What I will point out is that it raised funds for both Prince Harry’s charity Sentebale and every tabloid under the Murdoch umbrella thanks to photos of Meghan presenting Harry with both a kiss and what I’m fairly certain is the Triwizard Tournament trophy. (“You’re a Windsor, Harry.”) For what it’s worth, if you, like me, still don’t understand why ponies don’t get more credit for doing all the hard work in polo, there’s hope; as part of the Sussexes’—very underreported—deal with Netflix, Harry is making a docuseries intended to illuminate the sport once described by Sylvester Stallone as “like trying to play golf during an earthquake,” with cameras trailing the senior-but-“not-working” royal throughout his stint on the East Coast.
