The annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic at Liberty State Park, where polo ponies run with the Lower Manhattan skyline as a backdrop, always draws its share of big names—this year the crowd included Penélope Cruz, Sam Rockwell, Sienna Miller, and Darren Criss. But this year only two of them could claim to be fresh off the other A-list event of the last month: the royal wedding.
Polo player Nacho Figueras and his wife, Delfina Blaquier, weren’t just in the crowd at St. George’s chapel when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot, but they were among the 200 people at the exclusive evening reception hosted by Prince Charles. “It’s wonderful that he’s found someone to spend the rest of his life with. He’s very happy,” Figueras said during the polo match of his friend Harry, whom he’s known for over a decade.
“They share a lot of common interests and have the same love for philanthropic work and family, so I’m very happy that he has found someone like her,“ he continued. “The whole wedding was amazing. It was a historic moment. I was happy to be there for my friend’s wedding to support him.”
The polo star, also a Ralph Lauren model, first met Harry in 2007 at a polo match in England. Figueras later took on the role as an ambassador for Harry’s Sentebale charity group, which provides support for children affected by HIV/AIDS in Lesotho, Botswana, and other African nations. Over the years, Figueras has played alongside Harry in numerous polo matches—most recently at the June 2017 Sentebale Royal Salute Polo Cup in Singapore. The friends last played against each other in the U.S. at the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic on Governors Island in New York, in 2009 and 2010.
Figueras admitted that he and Blaquier have had conversations with Harry about finding him a “great girl for a long time.” Since meeting Markle in 2016, Blaquier says Harry has changed.
“I just know he’s happier. He found his love. You can tell he truly loves her by the way he looks at her. It’s so heart-melting,” said Blaquier, a fashion designer for the clothing brand Àcheval Pampa and an avid horse rider. “He’s going to be a great husband and hopefully a good father soon. I feel so happy for him. I told him that and he smiled!”
As for attending the exclusive evening reception, Figueras and Blaquier neither confirmed nor denied some of the more exciting details out there about it. “That was a private moment for friends and family so I respect them and their privacy,” said Blaquier. “All I can say is there was a lot of laughing and emotion. They are really in love.”
