Prince Harry kept a low profile as he stepped out without wife Meghan Markle. The 41-year-old appeared solo on the sidelines of a polo match in Montecito, California, to watch close friend Nacho Figueras's son Artemio compete.
Harry kept it casual in a pair of charcoal shorts and a black polo shirt emblazoned with the number three. He hid behind a baseball cap and sunglasses but went barefoot as he perched delicately on the ground to watch the action without his wife, 44, or their children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, four.
The event saw Artemio win a prize for having the best polo pony even though his team were defeated on the field. The Duke of Sussex and Argentine polo player Figueras have been friends since 2007.
The pair has played polo alongside one another in various matches over the years, and Figueras has become one of the Sussexes' most vocal supporters. The model, dubbed the 'David Beckham of Polo', witnessed the early days of Harry and Meghan's romance and was later a guest at their wedding.
In September 2019, father-of-four Figueras appeared on Ellen DeGeneres' show to announce that he would 'defend his friends' with his life. The millionaire, who has an estimated net worth of $30 million, appears totally at ease with mentioning his friendship with the royal in interviews. In that same year, he told Town and Country magazine: 'What I like the most about [Harry] 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.'
He also described Meghan as 'incredible' and praised the former actress for 'giving up everything for the man she loves' in the Sussexes' Netflix documentary. During the Harry & Meghan docuseries, Figueras also revealed how Harry had confided in him and his wife, Delfina Blaquier, after sharing a first date with the Duchess in 2016. Figueras said: 'He looked at us and said "guys, I met a girl, we've just met but I think this might be the one." You could tell right away that those eyes were those of someone who'd fallen in love.'
Figueras was also among the first to meet Meghan and Harry's son Archie in 2019 in Windsor, and it seems the special occasion made its mark on the polo player, who launched a scent named after the British town. In December 2019, he launched a perfume named after Harry's hometown while hinting at 'a brotherhood of kindred spirits' with the Duke. He released a range of six different perfumes inspired by his travels around the world, including one called 'Windsor,' which he said he hoped would 'bring feelings of every kind of paradise.'
Posting on Instagram about the launch, the Argentinian wrote: 'The locations that inspired this collection evoke sentimental memories of time spent there with my wife Delfina and our children.' A portion of the sales proceeds from the fragrances were donated to Prince Harry's charity Sentebale.
Fatherhood is another topic which he is believed to have bonded with the Duke of Sussex over. Shortly after Harry's son Archie was born, Figueras praised the royal as an 'amazing' parent and said he is 'very, very happy' about fatherhood. He said: 'He seems to be really, really happy so I'm very happy and excited for him. I've been saying this for a long time, he's a person that loves children. I've seen him interact with children for a very long time in all these things that we do in Africa so I'm not surprised he's an amazing father.'
