Literally falling off his high horse! Prince Harry took a tumble while competing in a polo match — and the scary accident was captured by photographers.
The Duke of Sussex, 37, who plays for the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club’s Los Padres polo team, competed in a match on Sunday, June 12 at the California club. At one point, while making a sharp turn, Harry — and his horse — fell to the ground. The prince could be seen kneeling on the ground behind the equine, his white pants covered in dirt, while the horse laid on its side with its hooves curled inward. Fortunately for both, the two got back on their feet, and the prince was captured walking alongside the equine, his hand on the horse’s back. However, Los Padres eventually lost the game.
The Archewell cofounder has been active in the sport for years and joined the team earlier this year — two years after his 2020 move to California with wife Meghan Markle and son Archie, 3. (The royal and the Suits alum, 40, are also the proud parents of daughter Lilibet, 12 months.) It is Harry’s and his teammates’ role as dads that inspired the team’s name — which means “The Fathers” in Spanish — his teammate Nacho Figueras revealed via the Daily Mail in May.
Despite Los Padres’ loss on Sunday, they recently scored a big win by taking home the Lisle Nixon Memorial cup in May — a trophy awarded to them by Meghan herself. While she kissed each player on the cheek as a congratulations, she saved a special smooch for her husband in a rare show of PDA. The couple’s sweet kiss was a powerful one that required the Duchess of Sussex to wipe her red lipstick off of Harry’s mouth.
The duke’s latest polo match occurred just days after he, Meghan, and their kids returned home from celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in the U.K., during which the monarch met her great-granddaughter Lili — her namesake — for the first time.
While Harry has always had a close relationship with his 96-year-old grandmother, there is “still a lot of tension” between the redheaded royal and his older brother, Prince William.
Royal expert Christopher Andersen exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, June 7, that Harry and Meghan’s attempts to “mend fences” with the rest of the royals at the Platinum Jubilee were unsuccessful. He also claimed that “William and Kate [Middleton] made no effort at all to introduce Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis to [Lili],” claiming, “As far as I know, nobody believes they spoke [to one another].”
The Sussexes and the Cambridges notably sat separately at the Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral, one of many celebrations to mark the queen’s historic 70 years on the throne.
“Senior members of the royal family were seated in the front row and non-senior members in the second row,” a source exclusively revealed to Us about the seating arrangement at the event, a decision made by Buckingham Palace in order “to avoid any unwanted attention” on the two couples. Harry and Meghan, who officially stepped down from their duties as senior royals in 2020, were also not allowed on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the Trooping of the Colour, per the queen’s orders.
Despite any perceived royal snubbing, Elizabeth’s meeting with the Sussexes — and their children — went swimmingly.
“Harry and Meghan visited the queen at Windsor Castle with Lilibet and Archie,” an insider told Us on June 6, noting for the queen, “spending time with her great-grandchildren and seeing Lilibet turn 1 added some light to her day” after the monarch skipped the Service of Thanksgiving due to feeling “some discomfort.” The source added: “She thinks they’re adorable and gave Lili and Archie gifts.”
Keep scrolling to see photos of Harry’s polo fall — and the proof that he and the horse are fine:
