On a brilliantly sunny day on Governors Island in New York Harbor, the 24-year-old prince drew a crowd that included stars like Madonna, actresses
Kate Hudson and Chloe Sevigny, and rapper LL Cool J, but also lots of ordinary New Yorkers out for a rare sight: a polo game in the city. “You see this out in the Hamptons, but not so much in the city,” said Vincent Hodgins of Manhattan, who brought his two sons to watch the prince play. The Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic was a fundraiser for Sentebale, the charity that Harry has set up with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to help poor children and AIDS orphans in that small African nation surrounded by South Africa. “Prince Seeiso and I both lost our mothers when we were very young,” Harry said in brief remarks before the match. “We set up Sentebale in their memory, and because my mother loved this city, it makes this occasion all the more poignant for me.” His team, named after the charity, proceeded to defeat the opposing Black Watch team 6-5. Harry assisted on the winning goal in the last seconds, drawing the biggest cheer of the afternoon. Both teams included prominent polo stars like Argentine Nacho Figueras, also a Ralph Lauren model, who played for Black Watch. It was the second and final day of Harry’s first official visit to the United States, which began with a sober visit Friday to the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. On Saturday morning, the prince toured Harlem’s Children Zone, a community organization that offers families social and educational services. He and Prince Seeiso chatted with students working preparing for a Regents Exam. “Who’s the best pupil” Harry asked the ninth-graders. “I was always the worst!”
Harry, the son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, is third in line to the British throne, after his father and older brother, William. He’s been dubbed the “party prince,” and his New York trip seemed designed partly to counter that image with a focus on his charity work.