Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have reportedly tried to distance themselves from their new Netflix series “Polo,” as critics have savaged it as a plodding, “cringy,” and tone-deaf portrayal of the privileged and self-important people – like Harry and Meghan? – who participate in the world’s “stupidest sport.”
It’s been widely reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex barely appear in the series, while the Daily Beast noted Friday that they have not participated in any interviews to promote the five-part series about the elite equestrian sport. Meanwhile, sources purportedly close to the couple have tried to put out the message that the final result was “pretty much out of their control.”
A source told Closer that the Montecito-based Sussexes despaired of the way that Netflix bosses wanted to make the series “appeal to the masses,” by pushing a reality TV approach that would dish on the secret lives of “dirty, sweaty” polo players and their neglected but glamorous wives and girlfriends.
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – AUGUST 12: Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex and players of the Royal Salute Sentebale and Singapore Polo Club can be seen during the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup on August 12, 2023 in Singapore. The annual Polo Cup has been running since 2010, and to date has raised over £11 million to support Sentebale’s work with children and young people affected by poverty, inequality and HIV/AIDS in southern Africa. (Photo by Matt Jelonek/Getty Images for Sentebale)
But if only “Polo” offered off a more entertaining, “Real Housewives” vibe, with “tans, tantrums and toothy blue bloods toting big sticks,” as The Telegraph said. It might actually be watchable. Instead, viewers are left with a show that still takes its subjects and their endeavors far too seriously – again like Harry and Meghan?
The show ostensibly follows several groups of male polo players as they compete on four-man teams and push their beautiful horses to the limit to win the U.S. Open Polo Championship in Florida. According to The Telegraph and The Guardian, the final result is both a “dull indulgence about a rich person’s pursuit” and an “unintentionally hilarious” portrayal of A-type men who really think they’re doing something truly admirable, along with the pampered women around them who like to talk about the great sacrifices everyone is making.
Viewers also are left with a that show that, unintentionally or not, offers insights into Harry and Meghan and what’s important to them – even as they only briefly appear in scenes about a Sentebale charity polo match that Harry is playing in.
And as much as Harry and his former TV actor wife may say they don’t like directions “Polo” took, they also chose to do this series about a favorite pastime and to be its executive producers. Harry loves to play the sport, like his father, King Charles III, and Meghan certainly seems to enjoy the social aspects: Donning designer gowns and heels to “tailgate” in luxe settings and to be photographed awarding trophies. In Montecito, the couple also reside in the world the show depicts — “the playground of the rich,” as The Guardian’s critic Stuart Heritage said.
The series showrunner, Miloš Balać, told Variety and People that “Polo” was Harry and Meghan’s “vision,” and they were very “hands-on” in its creation. They wanted to introduce audiences to one of the world’s “oldest and most dangerous sports,” with Meghan especially wanting to make polo come across as more “accessible.” Balać also noted that Harry was “involved” in the production “in a pretty incredible way” from the start, since this is a world “that he knows well.”
Britain’s Meghan (C), Duchess of Sussex, and Britain’s Prince Harry (R), Duke of Sussex, arrive at a charity polo game at the Ikoyi Polo Club in Lagos on May 12, 2024 as they visit Nigeria as part of celebrations of Invictus Games anniversary. (Photo by Kola Sulaimon / AFP) (Photo by KOLA SULAIMON/AFP via Getty Images)
“Polo” also was supposed to be Harry and Meghan’s latest effort to fulfill their end of their reported $100 million deal with Netflix. When the couple signed their Netflix deal in 2020, they vowed to produce serious but uplifting documentaries and feature films that “inform” but also “give hope.” The Netflix partnership was seen as the couple’s main vehicle to make a lot of money right away after leaving royal life and to launch careers as relatable but powerful media moguls and global do-gooders.
Harry and Meghan’s first production for Netflix was a hit, their blockbuster 2022 reality TV series about their flight from royal life. But it’s debatable whether the series offered “truthful,” “powerful storytelling” as it centered on them talking about “how hard” they’ve had it being rich, self-exiled royals, as Heritage wrote. Since then, Harry and Meghan have only managed to put out two little-seen series, including one about Harry’s Invictus Games for wounded military veterans. At some point in the future Netflix may release Meghan’s cooking show, though Heritage said that the streaming service seems reluctant to do so.
But now comes “Polo,” and Heritage wrote that its original sin is that it’s about polo. Heritage doesn’t mince words in blasting polo, calling it “the stupidest, most obnoxious sport known to humanity.” Among other things, the series makes it clear how truly inaccessible polo is. To compete, one must have access to a stable of costly, well-bred, well-trained horses, as well as the time and money to train and to travel globally for competitions.
“It requires incredible wealth, usually inherited, which means you could tip a bucket of paint over the entire sport and not hit a single person who even remotely qualified as an underdog,” Heritage said.
As Heritage pointed out, the best sports-related feature films and documentaries, including some recent Netflix projects, tend to find drama and uplifting moments by following talented underdog athletes. To triumph, these athletes must overcome tremendous odds — including poverty, historic prejudice or personal challenges that people find sympathetic.
“Polo” instead wants viewers to somehow become interested in an athlete like Louis Devaleix, a French-born, Brazilian-based businessman who supports his polo habit by running what’s called a “healthcare acquisition firm.” Devaleix has serious issues with fidelity and anger management (as alleged by his two ex-wives in court documents). He smashes things when he loses, and he bails out midway through his third wife’s baby shower because he has to do something polo related.
As Heritage pointed out, Devaleix also marvels at a rival’s ability to know the names of the horses he rides, which brings up a genuinely serious issue that “Polo” doesn’t want to deal with: The sport’s “morally ambiguous” treatment of horses.
Harry and Meghan are self-proclaimed environmentalists and animal rights supporters, but their series treats horses almost as non-entities, even it shows the animals doing all the hard work.
Ahead of the release of “Polo,” the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Foundation released a statement pointing out that the horses depicted in the series are not willing participants. In this sport, horses are “are forced to run at breakneck speeds before making sudden stops and sharp turns.”
Illnesses, injuries and pulmonary hemorrhages are common, PETA said. It’s also not unheard of for horses to be hit in the head with a mallet during a match, while players often use whips and spurs to steer horses and encourage them to run faster. The only serious injury addressed in “Polo” happens to a player, which causes some of the people in the show to “act like actual human beings for a little while,” Heritage wrote.
The final episode suggests that another season of “Polo” could be coming, as if “any of us deserve that,” Heritage said. Another thing “Polo” reveals about Harry is Meghan is that they apparently don’t have the “golden” touch when it comes to creating content that audiences find “accessible” or engaging.
“The critics have universally slammed the show. Harry and Meghan are box office poison,” Tony Case, a marketing expert and writer, told The Daily Beast. “Of course everyone is running away from it, in every direction, so to as to not pick up the stench of this colossal bomb.”
“From a brand perspective, I’m not really sure anything can be done at this point to reverse consumers’ obvious apathy toward the Sussexes,” Case continued. “They set out to conquer America, but nobody here, it turned out, found them or what they’re peddling to be particularly compelling.”
