Their friendship is thought to date back to 2007 – so it’s perhaps no surprise that Nacho Figueras has become a supporting figure in Prince Harry’s new life away from the royal family.
The Duke of Sussex reunited with the Argentine polo player on his arrival in Japan yesterday for a summit on sport, community and philanthropy. Nacho will also be supporting the prince later this week in Singapore at Harry’s fundraiser for the Sentebale Polo Cup.
They have played polo side by side in various matches over the years and Nacho, 46, has become one of Harry and Meghan Markle’s most vocal supporters, praising them in magazine interviews and on TV appearances.
The father-of-four – dubbed “David Beckham of Polo” – was also among the few closest confidants of the Duke and Duchess to appear in the couple’s Netflix documentary.
His closeness to the couple remains despite his public candor about his friendship with Harry and Meghan, who has previously insisted their family has a “fundamental right to privacy” and has even launched a royally-inspired fragrance.
Their friendship is thought to date back to 2007 – so it’s perhaps no surprise that Nacho Figueras (pictured with the Duke of Sussex at a polo match in May 2022) has become a supporting figure in Prince Harry’s new life away from royals has become family
In September 2019, Nacho — who witnessed the early days of the couple’s romance and later was a guest at their wedding — appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show and announced that he would “defend his friends with his life.”
The millionaire seems completely reluctant to mention his friendship with the royal family in interviews, as in the same year he told Town and Country magazine: “My favorite thing.” [Harry] is how real he is and how serious he is about improving the lives of children who haven’t had the blessings we’ve had.”
He also described Meghan as “amazing” 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 he went on a first date with Meghan.
He described how he and his wife Delfina Blaquier went to dinner with Harry shortly after the prince met his wife-to-be in 2017.
Nacho said, “He looked at us and said, ‘Guys, I met a girl, we just met, but I think this could be the thing.'” You could tell right away those eyes were someone’s were who had fallen in love.’
Elsewhere, the polo player isn’t shy about showing off his friendship with the prince on his social media page. In 2022, he made a post on Instagram praising the Duke, writing, ‘What a joy to see you smile and so happy.’ Love being your teammate.’
In May 2019, he also used his account to prove his loyalty to his boyfriend, declaring, “The world thinks it knows everything about this man.” to get to know and understand the man he really is.”
His closeness to the couple remains despite his public candor about his friendship with Harry and Meghan, who has previously insisted their family has a “fundamental right to privacy” and has even launched a royally-inspired fragrance. Pictured: Nacho launching this fragrance collection in December 2019
Meanwhile, the polo player revealed the couple’s top-secret wedding invitation for the evening to his Instagram followers in 2018 – although details surrounding the event at Frogmore House were being kept top secret at the time
The father-of-four – dubbed “David Beckham of Polo” – was also among the few closest confidants of the Duke and Duchess to appear in the couple’s Netflix documentary (pictured).
Nacho gave an insight into the evening’s invitation to select guests to witness the final part of Prince Harry and Meghan’s wedding celebrations. The small A6 card featured a hand drawn image of Frogmore House and details of the event
The polo player went on to describe the prince as kind, generous, compassionate and “constantly thinking about how to make the world a better place”.
But there was one incident where Nacho may have shared too much about Harry and Meghan on his Instagram account.
The polo player revealed the couple’s top-secret wedding invitation for the evening to his followers in 2018 – although the details of the event at Frogmore House were being kept top secret at the time.
It is believed that participants were asked not to post photos on social media.
However, not everyone could resist the temptation as Nacho – who had attended the church ceremony at St George’s Chapel with his wife earlier in the day – shared a snippet of his evening invitation.
In a post on Instagram, the Ralph Lauren model showed off his tuxedo suit and presented the delicate invitation, an A6 piece of folded card with an exquisite hand-painted image of Frogmore House.
The front of the card read: “M&H, Saturday 19th May 2018, Frogmore House.” Information on the evening celebrations. The post was later deleted.
Coincidentally, he also included a bottle of Ralph Lauren fragrance in the image.
Nacho was among the first to meet Meghan and Harry’s son Archie in Windsor in 2019 – and it seems the special occasion has left its mark on the polo player, who launched a fragrance named after the British city.
In December 2019, Nacho launched a perfume named after Harry’s hometown while suggesting a “brotherhood of kindred spirits” with the Duke.
He launched a range of six different perfumes inspired by his travels around the world, including one called Windsor, which he hoped would “evoke feelings of every paradise”.
The Argentine posted about the launch on Instagram: “The places that inspired this collection bring back sentimental memories of the time I spent there with my wife Delfina and our children.”
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the fragrances were donated to Prince Harry’s charity Sentebale.
Nacho has played polo alongside Prince Harry, 38, in various matches over the years, attended the royal wedding and was among the first to meet his son Archie in 2019
Score! Nacho congratulates Prince Harry on his goal at the Sentebale Handa Polo Cup charity match in Rome; pictured in May 2019
Meanwhile, Nacho seems to be a main character in Harry’s new life in the States – the pair enjoying polo games together as teammates at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club. Over the past summer, the pals have often been photographed putting on particularly tangible performances.
Although they seem to come from different worlds, it is their shared love of polo that has led them to form a close friendship.
Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nacho started playing at the age of nine after his father introduced him to the sport.
Already at the age of 17 he became a professional polo player. After a stint in Europe, he ended up with the White Birch Polo Team based in Bridgehampton, New York.
Described by Tatler as “the David Beckham of polo,” he now has a 6 goal handicap and an estimated net worth of $30 million. He has been a model for Ralph Lauren since 2000.
But modeling was never the goal of the athlete, who only started his career to make some extra money and draw more attention to his beloved sport.
It all started when, at a party in the Hamptons hosted by Calvin Klein’s ex-wife Kelly, he was approached by photographer Bruce Weber, who encouraged him to take up modeling.
While this path of his career has brought his objectively handsome face into everyday homes via glossy fashion magazines and television commercials, the game of polo has always been his true passion.
Polo for Charity: Nacho Figueras and Prince Harry hold the trophy after the Sentebale Royal Salute Polo Cup which helps raise funds to support HIV-infected children and young adults in Lesotho and Botswana; pictured in June 2017
Best Friends: Nacho and Prince Harry at the 2018 Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup, with Meghan Markle and Delfina walking behind them; pictured in July 2018
He and Harry have played side by side in benefit games for a decade, which eventually led to them becoming close friends.
Both Harry and Nacho regularly attend Sentebale fundraisers to raise funds for Sentebale, an organization co-founded by Prince Harry that supports HIV-affected children and youth in southern Africa.
Charity is another shared interest of Nacho and the Duke, with the polo player actively praising the King for his work over the years.
Nacho has been to Lesotho with Harry at least three times and most recently opened the Mamohato Center together in 2015.
He said the charity he is an ambassador for is “incredibly close to our hearts”. He also revealed that during their trips to Lesotho, Harry was “the first to wake up” and always kept up to date with what was happening.
Nacho said the Duke often pointed out things that needed fixing and also asked for equipment updates.
The game of polo not only led Nacho to a special friendship with Harry, but also with his wife, Delfina Blaquier, the daughter of an Argentine polo player.
The pair, fittingly, met at a polo match in Buenos Aires in 1997. They met in early 1998, had their first son in 2000 and married in December 2005. The couple now have four children together: Hilario; aurora; artemo; and Alba.
Fatherhood is another theme that is believed to have linked him to the Duke of Sussex.
Shortly after the birth of Harry’s son Archie, Nacho hailed the royal as a “great” parent and said he was “very, very happy” about fatherhood. The polo player was among the first to meet Archie, having visited Windsor shortly after his birth.
He said, “He seems really, really happy, so I’m really happy and happy for him.” I’ve been saying this for a long time, he’s a kid loving person.
“I’ve seen him interact with children for a very long time in all of these things that we do in Africa, so it doesn’t surprise me that he’s a great father.”