What Prince Harry Said About Father-Son Rivalry in New Netflix Show

Prince Harry briefly talked father-son rivalry in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment on his new Netflix show Polo, released Tuesday.

The Duke of Sussex was filmed chatting to another player, Adolfo Cambiaso, asking the Argentine polo star what it was like to compete against his own son.

The question is a striking one given Harry used to share the polo field with his own father King Charles III and brother Prince William.

However, very little air time is given to their chat and Harry barely appears in the documentary—raising fresh questions about why the prince is so absent from his own show.

The duke can be seen asking, “What’s it like playing against your kid?” earning the reply: “It’s difficult and worse when you lose.”

The clip appears briefly in the opening sequence of the first episode but in longer form in the fifth, which is set at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge at Grand Champions Polo Club, in Wellington, Florida, on April 12, 2024.

The duke said: “You’ve created something special, doing amazing things.” Cambiaso said, “for him, he’s starting the career,” and Harry replied, “he’s only 18?”

Harry is then shown meeting Cambiaso’s son and asks: “Are you going to head out into the final against your dad or are you going to dispatch him before that?”

The event was held to raise money for Harry’s own charity, Sentebale, which supports children with HIV and Aids in Lesotho and Botswana.

However, he appears relatively little and there are no interviews direct to camera with the royal, who at one point is seen scoring on horseback.

Meghan Markle was also at the event and is seen speaking in Spanish to one of the other competitors, but similarly does not give an interview.

In one section, the cameraman begins filming her and she puts her hand up blocking her face as though from the light, though shadows visible in the background show the sun was in fact coming from the other side.

Perhaps she did not initially realize whose camera was recording her and, in the end, she pulls her hand down and is filmed speaking freely for a few minutes.

However, it all points to a decision that has never been fully explained to limit the couple’s direct involvement in the project.

Harry’s own history on the polo field could also have made for captivating viewing with emotional stories of his royal life before he quit the palace.

Beyond reminiscing about happier times with his family was destroyed, the prince once watched his father be thrown from his horse and taken to the brink of death.

“Playing polo that spring in Brazil, to raise money for Sentebale, I’d seen a player take a hard fall from his horse,” Harry wrote in his book Spare during a passage that took place in 2012.

“As a boy, I’d seen Pa take that same fall, the horse giving way, the ground simultaneously smacking and swallowing him.

“I remembered thinking: ‘Why’s Pa snoring?’ And then someone yelling: ‘He’s swallowed his tongue!’

“A quick-thinking player jumped from his horse and saved Pa’s life. Recalling that
moment, subconsciously, I’d done likewise: jumped off my horse, run to the man, pulled out his tongue.”

Possible explanations for Harry’s light touch approach to his own show is that the couple are frequently accused in the British press of hogging the limelight and making projects all about them.

Additionally, any references to the prince’s father might have caused a stir in the U.K. against the backdrop of Charles’ struggle with cancer in 2024.

Not only that, but back at the time of their original Netflix series Harry & Meghan, in December 2022, critical reception suggested they had re-visited the story of their royal exit one too many times.

Biting criticism from U.S. outlets may have pushed the Sussexes to rethink past decisions to be in front of camera.

All or any of those theories could explain the decision to step back from the documentary footage, however, Harry’s absence from Polo first leaked via the Daily Mail back in September in an article that suggested Netflix was not happy with the approach and wanted more bang for its buck.

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about Charles and Queen Camilla, William and Kate, Meghan Markle and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.