Royal polo.

Courts and kings

Royal patronage runs through many of the earliest records of the game.

• Persia. UNESCO's file on Iran's chogān says the game was mostly played in royal courts and urban fields. Wikipedia says it was a court pastime and part of royal education under the Sasanians.
• Byzantium. The Emperor Theodosius II (reigned 408 to 450) built a polo ground in the Great Palace of Constantinople, and Basil I later rebuilt it on a larger scale, according to Wikipedia.
• Tang China. A mural from the tomb of Li Yong, Prince Siguo (687 to 727), records a match the prince himself played, China Daily reports.
• The Delhi Sultanate. A National Museum, New Delhi listing describes chaugan as a game of royal families until the 18th century and says Qutb-ud-din Aibak died in 1210 after a fall from his horse during a game. The museum's miniature "Chand Bibi playing Polo" shows five princesses at play.
• The Mughals. Abul Fazl's Ain-i-Akbari, written around 1580, records that the emperor Akbar valued polo as a test of character and played it even at night with burning balls.
• Manipur. The Government of Manipur's tourism department says sagol kangjei was used to test a king's martial and cavalry skill.

The origins page gives these in more detail.

The Indian princely states

The Calcutta Polo Club's heritage page names royal patrons and players including the Maharajas of Burdwan and Cooch Behar, the Nizam of Hyderabad, Maharaja Sawai Man Singh of Jaipur and Rao Raja Hanut Singh, as well as the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Sultan of Brunei. The Jaipur team toured England in 1933, taking its mallet-maker Keshu Ram with it, according to the People's Archive of Rural India. In the 1920s, PARI says, Keshu Ram made sticks for the rulers of both Jodhpur and Jaipur.

Early British royal patronage

The National Pony Society, which began in 1893 as the Polo Pony Stud Book Society, says the Prince of Wales became its first royal patron in 1896.

Lord Mountbatten

Royal Central says Lord Louis Mountbatten took up polo in 1921 while serving in India and reached a handicap of 5 goals. He later became president of the London Polo Committee, and in 1931 he wrote a book, "An Introduction to Polo".

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

The royal family's website says Prince Philip took up polo in 1949 while stationed in Malta, encouraged by his uncle, Earl Mountbatten. In 1955 he brought polo to Smith's Lawn, Windsor, and founded the Household Brigade Polo Club, now Guards Polo Club. He played until about the age of 50 and then took up carriage driving. Royal Central dates his retirement from polo to 1971.

His part in the post-war game went beyond playing. The Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) says that, with the late Lord Cowdray, he helped restart polo in Britain from 1951 after the Second World War, became the HPA's patron in 1952, reached a 5-goal handicap and won the Gold Cup twice. The HPA's Gold Cup roll shows those wins: Windsor Park, with Prince Philip, beat Casarejo in 1957 and Cowdray Park in 1966.

Wikipedia says Guards Polo Club was formed on 25 January 1955 with Prince Philip as president, a role he held until his death in April 2021, and that it took its present name in 1969. The Queen, the club's patron, opened a new clubhouse and royal box there with Prince Philip on 26 April 2009.

King Charles III

NBC News, carrying a Reuters report of 17 November 2005, said the then Prince Charles was giving up polo after more than 40 years. He first played at 15, on a team captained by his father. The report said he had badly broken his right arm in 1990 and had been briefly knocked unconscious in a fall in 2001. The Royal Collection Trust, as given in a search summary, says he played with his sons on the Highgrove team until he retired from the sport in 2005. In May 2024, King Charles III was announced as president of Guards Polo Club, according to Wikipedia.

Princes William and Harry

Somerville College says Claire Tomlinson, one of the pioneers of women's polo, taught Princes William and Harry at the Beaufort Polo Club. As adults the brothers have played charity polo. Hello! magazine reported in May 2016 that they would play matches that summer including the Audi Polo Challenge at Coworth Park, Berkshire, raising money for Sentebale, Tusk, The Royal Marsden and WellChild, among others.

Prince Harry co-founded the charity Sentebale with Prince Seeiso in 2006 to support young people in Lesotho and Botswana. Sussex.com reports that the Sentebale polo cup reached its 13th year in 2023, when Harry's Royal Salute Sentebale team drew 7-7 with Singapore Polo Club.

On screen and in the stands

Netflix released "Polo", a five-part documentary series made by Prince Harry and Meghan's Archewell Productions with Boardwalk Pictures, on 10 December 2024. Wikipedia says it centres on the US Open Polo Championship and features players including Nacho Figueras, Adolfo Cambiaso and his son Poroto. Wikipedia reports that critics were not impressed: a Metacritic score of 40 and two-star reviews in The Guardian and The Telegraph.

Outside royalty, the Buenos Aires Herald reported that Argentina's President Javier Milei presented the trophy at the 2025 Argentine Open. For the British season today, see the UK high-goal page.