Inside Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Vision for Netflix’sPolo: 'They Were Extremely Hands-On' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

(Left) Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge benefitting Sentebale at the UPSA National Polo Center in Wellington, Florida on April 12, 2024. (Right) A promotional poster for “POLO” on Netflix.Photo:Jason Koerner/Getty; Netflix

Jason Koerner/Getty; Netflix

Meghan MarkleandPrince Harrywere totally focused on bringing the world of polo to Netflix with their new documentary series,Polo,the show’s executive producer and showrunner Miloš Balać says.

Polopremieres on Netflix on Dec. 10, taking viewers into what’s nicknamed “the sport of kings” across five episodes. The series follows elite global players as they saddle up in Wellington, Florida, for the U.S. Open Polo Championship, pulling back the curtain on the glamorous equestrian sport and the grit necessary for success.

Avid polo player Prince Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, served as executive producers on the project from their Archewell Productions company and Boardwalk Pictures. Balać (who also served as co-executive producer forRyan ReynoldsandRob McElhenney’s Emmy Award-winning docuseriesWelcome to Wrexhamon FX) tells PEOPLE that the couple had a true “vision” for bringing it all together.

Prince Harry playing polo at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge benefitting Sentebale at Grand Champions Polo Club on April 12, 2024 in Wellington, Florida.Jason Koerner/Getty

Jason Koerner/Getty

“They were wonderful. They were extremely hands-on,” the showrunner exclusively tells PEOPLE. “They really had a vision for trying to get polo to be accessible to a wider audience. Prince Harry knows the sport inside and out. To be able to have him as someone to bounce ideas off of and then also to get notes from… ‘Maybe if you edit it like this, the polo will just feel even more exciting. Or you got to make sure that the point is played out like this because that’s how you keep it factually accurate,’ " Balać says. “To have a polo expert in-house with him was so special. I think a lot of projects have EPs that can give great notes, but it’s rare that you have someone who’s truly an expert in the subject that you are documenting.”

The Duke of Sussex has played polo for years and saddles up annually for theSentebale Polo Cup, his charity’s flagship fundraiser. Balać tells PEOPLE that Prince Harry hoped (as the larger team did) to bring in Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso, a father and son set of polo stars. Adolfo is esteemed as one of the best polo players of all time, while his 17-year-old son is an emerging talent.

Courtesy of Netflix

The Duchess of Sussex, meanwhile, has been a supportive spouse and her husband’s’snumber one supporterat hispolo matchesthrough the years. Balać says that Meghan wantedPoloto capture the welcoming energy of the sideline scene — a little-known aspect of the game.

A scene from Polo.Courtesy of Netflix

“I think I spoke to them before I ever went to a polo match and it was [Meghan] who really prepped me for how wonderfully casual polo can be,” Balać tells PEOPLE about the Duchess of Sussex’s specific idea for the series.

“Sunday polo on Field One at the U.S. Polo Center is a big to-do where people have champagne brunches and come with their beautiful outfits. But the rest of the week, every polo match is actually so down to earth. It’s a lot of people pulling up in their pickup trucks and their cowboy boots, if not barefoot, with their dogs and their families and their kids to watch the game that they love,” Balać tells PEOPLE. “They’re there not to see and be seen, but to enjoy the sport that they really care about and people show up to that for free and you just pull up and she said that that’s what she loves.”

“She also loves tailgating at a polo match, and that just sort of set a lightbulb in my head where I was like, ‘Oh, this world is really not going to be what I think it is, in a good way,” the showrunner continues. “And we were able to then dig deeper into all the ways that it isn’t what people assume it is.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s longtime friend,Ignacio “Nacho” Figueras, appears inPoloas an expert and was also involved behind the camera as a consulting producer. Balać tells PEOPLE that the strong bond between Prince Harry and Nacho was evident.

“They really are great friends. That much is beyond obvious. When Prince Harry happened to be along for the Sentebale charity match, which we featured, just seeing them together at the polo field was infectious,” he says. “It’s like two buddies who really love each other and love the sport together having a great time and raising money for a good cause was just such a good vibe day. And Nacho really is just a wonderful, lovely human. So anytime he’s around is a good time.”

Nacho Figueras in Polo.Courtesy of Netflix

Figueras, 47, has long supported Prince Harry’s charity Sentebale as an ambassador, and the friends are known totravel the worldtogether to compete in the Sentebale Polo Cup, which fundraises for the charity Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho established in 2006 as a support for young people in southern Africa. Balać called Figueras his “ambassador” to learning more about the world of polo (a sport synonymous with theroyal familyfor generations) and says bringing the game to Netflix screens with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was an unforgettable experience.

“Working with them was definitely special. I think they were amazing collaborators that brought so much energy and passion to the project as a whole. Polo is one of Prince Harry’s greatest passions. It seems that Meghan has adopted it as one of hers too, just in terms of being his partner,” Balać tells PEOPLE. “She also loves the sport, and it was really fun to talk to her about what she loves about [it]. And Harry comes at it from the athlete perspective, so it was great to have both of those perspectives to help inform how I would go about sharing this world.”

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge benefitting Sentebale at the UPSA National Polo Center in Wellington, Florida on April 12, 2024.Yaroslav Sabitov/PA Images via Getty

Yaroslav Sabitov/PA Images via Getty

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On the eve of the premiere ofPolo, the showrunner says, “We’re just so excited that this series is coming into the world now. We really hope that people fall in love with this cast of characters. At the end of the day, I want people to know that this isn’t a typical sports documentary. It’s about human stories and finding ways to connect with people who you might not otherwise and along the way fall in love with a sport that you know nothing about. So I just hope people give it a watch and love what they see.”

POLOis now streaming on Netflix.

source: people.com