Royal Patronage

Augustman was in attendance as the Duke of Sussex saddled up for the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup at the Singapore Polo Club

- SUFFIAN HAKIM

THE DUKE OF SUSSEX, Britain’s Prince Harry, took to the verdant polo pitch of the Singapore Polo Club for the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup on 12 August 2023. The Cup was a charity event to raise funds and awareness for Sentebale, the non-profit organisation started in 2006 by two princes – Harry himself, and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. “Sentebale” means “forget me not” in Sesotho, an expression used in contexts of love, friendship and kinship.

The charity supports children suffering from HIV/AIDS, as well as at-risk and poverty-stricken children in Lesotho and Botswana. It took inspiration from the humanitarian work done in sub-Saharan Africa by Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, and was first conceived to run programmes such as network clubs and camps to help children and adolescents struggling with the aforementioned disease.

The 39-year-old Duke of Sussex played for the Sentebale Royal Salute team, named for the charity organisation, as well as Royal Salute, the blended Scotch whisky brand that has supported the charity as a partner and sponsor for the past 13 years. Playing alongside Harry was his close friend, Argentinian polo legend Nacho Figueras. This echoes the last time Prince Harry was in Singapore back in June 2017, when he led Sentebale Royal Salute alongside Figueras at the 2017 Sentebale Royal Salute Polo Cup to raise funds for Sentebale as well.