Prince Harry has appeared on stage in Aspen in the US today as he gears up to compete in the World Snow Polo Championships against his longtime friend Nacho Figueras. 

Footage posted on social media shows the Duke of Sussex posing for photos in a venue ahead of the event in Colorado

The competitive championships will take place at Rio Grande Park on December 17 and 18 – with Harry’s team including Grant Ganzi and Nic Roldan.  

He will go head-to-head with his old pal and Argentine polo player Nacho, who is thought to have been friends with the royal since 2007. 

The pair have played polo alongside one another in various matches over the years, and Nacho has become one of Harry and Meghan Markle‘s most vocal supporters, praising them in magazine interviews and during TV appearances.

The model – dubbed the ‘David Beckham of Polo’ – was also among a handful of the Duke and Duchess’s closest confidantes who appeared in the couple’s Netflix documentary.

Last year, Harry sealed a win against the pro player during a charity polo match in Miami. 

He stormed to victory in the celebrity pro-am polo game to benefit Sentebale, the charity the Prince founded in 2006. 

Prince Harry and his longtime friend Nacho Figueras, pictured last year, who are thought to have been pals since 2007

Prince Harry and his longtime friend Nacho Figueras, pictured last year, who are thought to have been pals since 2007 

Harry resigned as patron of Sentebale in March after the new chair, Dr Sophie Chandauka, made a series of incendiary allegations about his behaviour. 

Since then, Sentebale has dropped polo matches from its fundraising activities after the Duke walked away from the charity. 

The prince was presented with a trophy at the end of the match-up, which ended 3-1, before he received a passionate kiss from Meghan in front of waiting photographers.

In 2022, Harry won a charity tournament in Colorado after scoring an impressive five goals.

The Duke’s team won the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup in Aspen. 

Harry joined his friend and teammate Nacho for the tournament, which saw Sentebale take on multiple other teams.

In September 2019, Nacho – who witnessed the early days of Harry and Meghan’s romance and was later a guest at their wedding – appeared on Ellen DeGeneres’ show to announce that he would ‘defend his friends’ with his life. 

Prince Harry pursues Argentine professional polo player Nacho Figueras during the 2024 Royal Salute Polo Challenge to benefit Sentebale

Prince Harry pursues Argentine professional polo player Nacho Figueras during the 2024 Royal Salute Polo Challenge to benefit Sentebale

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, Nacho also revealed how the prince confided in him after sharing a first date with Meghan.

He described how him and his wife, Delfina Blaquier, went for dinner with Harry shortly after the prince met his future wife in 2017.

Nacho 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.’

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Prince Harry poses for photographers on stage in Aspen as he prepares to compete in the World Snow Polo Championships against friend Nacho Figueras