Royalty is coming to Wellington.
England’s Prince Harry will be stopping by the Winter Equestrian Capital of the world Wednesday, May 4 to take part in a polo match at Valiente Polo Farms, Kensington Palace announced Wednesday.
The prince will be working with his charity, Sentebale, which specializes in helping children that have been affected by the AIDS and HIV epidemic.
Valiente owner Bob Jornayvaz said he’s honored that the royal family would choose his team’s venue.
And, of course, getting to play polo with a prince will be pretty cool, too.
“It’s going to be a blast. I can’t wait. I’m like a kid waiting for Christmas,” Jornayvaz told The Palm Beach Post.
Jornayvaz, one of the more well-known polo patrons in the country, has never played with royalty before.
Prince Harry’s stay will be short as he is headed to Orlando the next day for the Invictus Games, where he will stay for more than a week.
Those games, held at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports, are for veterans injured in service to their country. They’ll run from May 8-12, and Prince Harry will leave on the 13th.
Prince Harry played polo in the United States three years ago at the Sentebale Royale Salute Polo Club in Greenwich, Ct. The prince even scored a goal in that contest, which was also for his charity.
Palm Beach County has long been a haven for royalty. Princess Diana visited 31 years ago and watched Prince Charles play polo.
The two arrived by Royal Air Force jet at 12:30 p.m., Nov. 12 at Palm Beach International Airport and headed to Palm Beach Polo and Country Club in Wellington for a 3 p.m. match, after which Princess Diana presented the Princess of Wales Trophy to the winning team. Later, they partied at The Breakers with Bob Hope. It was during this same trip to the United States that Diana famously danced with John Travolta.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were also frequent Palm Beach visitors.
They stayed at the Everglades Club in April 1941 for their first visit. Over the next three decades, they’d stay with friends such as Herbert Pulitzer and Winston and CZ Guest.
“I’ve only brought along a few refugee rags from France,” the duchess told the press in 1941. She had 20 pieces of luggage for a three-day stay.
http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/prince-harry-coming-to-wellington-to-play-polo-in-/nqzpc/