First look at Harry and Meghan’s POLO: Duke’s BFF Nacho Figueras fronts trailer for new Netflix series featuring some VERY glam WAGs (but the royal’s nowhere to be seen!)
The trailer for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new Netflix series has been released today – but it doesn’t feature either the Duke or Duchess of Sussex.
Named POLO, the five-episode programme will show ‘fierce rivalries’ and the ‘intense training’ that those competing in the US Open Polo Championship go through.
The clip promoting the programme, which was shared to YouTube, features Nacho Figueras, a long-time friend of Prince Harry’s and a professional polo player.
However, there was no footage of the Duke, 40, and Duchess, 43, who served as executive producers on the show, which is centred around several high-profile polo players’ lives on and off the field
The trailer showed heated moments between family members, some very glamorous WAGs and interviews with the cast members, including Argentinian Nacho, 47, who says: ‘Polo is not just a sport, polo is a lifestyle. We eat, we breathe, we sleep polo.’
Speaking to People, Prince Harry said: ‘This series offers audiences an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look into the passion and determination driving some of the world’s elite polo players, revealing the grit behind the glamor.
‘We’re proud to showcase the true depth and spirit of the sport — and the intensity of its high-stakes moments.’
Attempting to describe the sport in the trailer, a cast member says: ‘Imagine going on a horse at 35 miles an hour as someone is coming at you full speed.’
The trailer for POLO, which was shared to YouTube today, features Nacho Figueras (pictured), a long-time friend of Prince Harry’s and a frequent polo player alongside the royal
Another person continues: ‘It’s the adrenaline that goes through your body — it’s addictive.’
The trailer, which lasts two-and-a-half minutes, shows the professional and personal lives of the show’s featured athletes, as polo is described as ‘a sexy sport, too — dirty, sweaty boys riding.’
The five-part series will culminate at the US Open in Wellington, Florida, which takes place annually in the spring.
According to the trailer, the ‘big story’ of the competition on which the series centres is that a father and son will play against each other.
The son appears on screen and says: ‘I want to win against my dad so I can say I beat the greatest in the sport .’ Meanwhile, the father admits: ‘I’m very proud of my son but I try to beat him.’
A younger play, named Timmy, also appears in the trailer. It hints that there’ll be tension between Timmy and his father, who not only owns the team but sometimes coaches as well.
While Timmy emphasises that ‘it’s healthy to have somewhat of a personal life outside of being an athlete,’ his father disagrees.
The trailer for the five-part series, set to be released on December 10, featured an array of stunning wives and partners (pictured)
In the trailer, Timmy’s father is seen criticising his son’s play, while his mother comments that she doesn’t like to hear the criticisms.
Elsewhere, a partner of one of the polo players admits that it can ‘take a toll on the family’, especially since the player in question travels back and forth to Argentina twice a week.
Towards the end of the trailer, as the words ‘For legacy. For courage. For glory’ appear on the screen, one of the players reflects on the risks of the sport.
He says: ‘A whole bunch of dangerous things that can happen. It’s not a motorised vehicle, it’s not a car, it’s a 1,200 pound animal.’ Another insists he will do whatever it takes to win.
The series by Archewell Productions was first teased in April when it emerged that Harry and Meghan have two nonfiction series’ in production with Netflix. The other show will focus on Meghan’s love of ‘cooking, gardening and friendship’.
Both are part of the couple’s £80million, multi-year deal with the streaming platform that they signed four years ago.
It comes after the release of Harry & Meghan on Netflix in 2022, which covered their relationship and their decision to step back from the Royal Family. It became Netflix’s top-performing documentary series in just one week.
Other works which are a part of their deal include Live to Lead, a docu-series released on New Year’s Eve 2022, the Heart Of Invictus which released last year, and an adaption of Meet Me at the Lake, the rights for which the couple reportedly paid $3.8 million.
The trailer also showed one polo player becoming frustrated enough to hit out at a canopy with his polo mallet (pictured)
Filmed primarily in Florida, POLO will be released globally on December 10.
Netflix said of the series: ‘Through fierce rivalries and intense training, viewers will get an unprecedented glimpse into the dedication and skill required to compete at the sport’s highest level.
‘From a young player pushed to his limits by his demanding father, to a former golfer who’s made significant sacrifices for the love of the sport, to the father-son duo widely regarded as the greatest players of all time — they all face intense personal and professional challenges as they vie for the coveted title.’
Polo is known as ‘the sport of kings,’ and the Duke has played for decades.
Queen Elizabeth II would often cheer Prince Philip on, as would Princess Diana when Charles, then Prince of Wales, played.
Biographer Andrew Morton described it as ‘a royal rite of passage’ for the female members of the Royal Family in his book Meghan: A Hollywood Princess.
The Duchess of Sussex’s first public appearance with Prince Harry was at a polo match, while Kate greeted Prince William after a match with a kiss.
King George VI introduced the Royal Family to polo and enjoyed both watching and playing the game. William and Harry have played since they were teenagers.
Prince Harry plays polo during the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup on August 12, 2023
Following in the footsteps of their late mother-in-law Diana, Kate and Meghan have also been spotted on the sidelines watching their husbands play.
‘It is something of a royal rite of passage,’ Andrew Morton wrote in Meghan: A Hollywood Princess.
‘Some of the best – and most affectionate – photographs ever taken of Princess Diana were when she attended polo matches involving Prince Charles,’ he writes.
Meghan watched Harry play polo in May 2017 at Coworth Park in Berkshire at what was to be their first public event together. She clapped and cheered on the prince from the royal box at the charity match.
Harry ‘is by nature very optimistic as a person and always pushing boundaries, always challenging people, and that’s how he plays polo,’ professional player Malcolm Borwick told the Express.
Although he now lives in California, the Duke of Sussex still plays polo and, in April this year, his team won a match in Miami to help raise funds for Sentebale, the charity which Harry founded in 2006.
William ‘is gifted because he has had to overcome the fact that he is left-handed and he has to play polo with his right hand,’ a commentator told the Express.
Kate often watches her husband play in charity matches and the couple have been photographed sharing a kiss after a game.