Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's new BFFs – super rich polo player and glamorous wife

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s close friendship with Argentinian polo star and pal Nacho Figueras and his wife, socialite Delfina Blaquier, was analysed by a royal commentator, who claimed the Duke of Sussex’s “bromance” with Nacho “grows, it would seem, ever deep”.

The two couples were recently pictured together at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge which took place in Wellington, Florida, in aid of Sentebale – a charity the Duke of Sussex co-founded in 2006 which provides aid to children and young people with HIV in Lesotho and Botswana.

During the equestrian event, Harry and Meghan were followed by Netflix cameras for one of the couple’s new shows for the streaming giant, which they will co-execute and which will focus on the sport.

Following the event, the polo star took to Instagram to praise the duke, saying: “I’m so proud to have shared this experience with my very good friend, Prince Harry. We came together to support Sentebale, a charity close to our hearts that does remarkable work for children in Lesotho and Botswana.

“It’s always an honor to ride alongside Prince Harry, whose commitment to making a difference is truly inspiring.(sic)”

Now the Mail’s Alison Boshoff touched down on Figueras’s life and his relationship with the Montecito couple and claimed that their life in California “owes much to Nacho’s patronage”.

She described Figueras as “the wealthy, handsome and influential ‘David Beckham of polo'”, while she also spoke about “model, photographer and polo player” Delfina.

Harry and Nacho met all the way back in 2007 and quickly bonded over polo with Figueras becoming an ambassador of the charity in 2008.

Since then, the duo have played around the world together, while the polo player and his wife attended the Sussex wedding in 2018 and also made it to the evening reception.

The duke also confided in Figueras his relationship with Meghan, before it became public.

The couple came even closer after Harry and Meghan’s move to California, as Boshoff noted how Harry started to play for Nacho’s Los Padres polo team in Santa Barbara.

She wrote: “Nacho remarked it meant that they ‘really bonded more than we’ve ever bonded before'”.

The royal commentator went on to examine how the polo player’s influence had an impact on Harry and Meghan’s life in the US, saying that it was he who introduced them to American TV host Ellen DeGeneres – a contact they’ve kept close ever since.

DeGeneres later introduced Meghan to entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Adam Lilling, who helped her set up her first investment, in Clevr Blends drinks while she also introduced Harry to the online mental health and career coaching start-up BetterUp.

Boshoff wrote: “But in the world of polo, it is Nacho rather than Harry who is considered royalty.”

The Argentine, 47, is “ageing like a very fine wine”, according to the commentator.

Starting out as a model at the age of 20 before embarking on his polo career, Figueras is now considered to be the most famous polo player in the world.

Boshoff said: “The looks which made him a male model when he was 20 — his fantastic teeth and hair, year-round tan, and chiselled body of a Greek God bowled over the legendary photographer Bruce Weber — remain very much in demand…

“There is seemingly nothing that Nacho cannot do: he paints, he cooks, and he is a successful businessman. “

The polo star reportedly appears to have “limitless funds, with a huge estate in Argentina, a fabulous home in Florida (both of them notable enough to have had the distinction of featuring in Architectural Digest) and an art collection which runs to Warhol, Basquiat and Jackson Pollock.”

Coming from a tight-knit middle-class family near Buenos Aires, Figueras left home in 1997 to join a French polo team when he was just 17, a move which led to the successful career he enjoys now.

Two years later, he met photographer Bruce Weber, who shot all the Ralph Lauren campaigns, during a dinner in the Hamptons hosted by Kelly Klein, the then-wife of designer Calvin Klein.

He shot his first Ralph Lauren Polo campaign in 2000 and continued to represent the brand for 20 years.

Figueras lent his name to a perfume, and a series of bonkbusting romance novels, which were written by two female ghosts, the columnist said, while she also noted on the Polo Classic, which is held annually in both New York and Los Angeles and draws a celebrity crowd.

Meanwhile, wife Delfina comes from “the highest circles of Argentine society” with her family owning “a 30,000-acre estate in the country”.

The couple have four children, Hilario born in 2000, Aurora born in 2005, Artemio born in 2010 and Alba born in 2013.

Boshoff wrote: “It’s a peripatetic life. Winters are spent on a 30-acre estate outside the town of General Rodriguez, where the family keep around 45 horses. A couple of months of the year are spent in Florida, a few more in the Hamptons.”

She added the only “cloud on the horizon” is the polo star’s age.

She said: “He has many friends, among them Coldplay’s Chris Martin, the fashion designer Valentino, Hollywood actress Kate Hudson, hospitality tycoon Andre Balazs and art titan Julian Schnabel. Plus, of course, Prince Harry and Meghan, possibly his greatest fans of all.”