Prince Harry spent his first night away from newborn son Archie on Thursday when he jetted into Rome, Italy to attend the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup on Friday afternoon. But the new dad made sure he didn't return home from his travels empty-handed as he brought back a very sweet gift for the royal baby – a personalised polo mallet.
The Duke of Sussex, who is an avid polo player, was gifted the sweet memento by his friends at the polo club. Of course, the mallet was a mini version of what dad Harry would play with and featured a nod to the British flag with its colours of red, white and blue. It also had "Archie" emblazoned across the front in black writing. The special gift was revealed when Brand Machine Group, who describe themselves as "International Specialist in Fashion Licensing" on Instagram, shared an image of the mallet to their Instagram stories. They captioned the snap: "Match day! Featuring an exclusive polo mallet for the royal baby!"
How thoughtful!
Harry's decision to spend the night away from baby Archie, who is just two and a half weeks old, was defended by his good friend Nacho Figueras. Speaking to reporters at the Sentebale Polo Cup, Nacho said: "I am a father of four and sometimes duty calls, this is 24 hours away from the house, I think he's doing just fine. He's a wonderful father and very present and he's here for an amazing cause so I don't see that as a problem."
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Nacho, who was a guest at Harry and Meghan's wedding last year, was also asked how the Duke is coping with baby Archie. "He's doing great. Sleeping, you should ask him, but I think he's doing great," said the professional polo player. "I just saw him, he's ready for the game and had a good night's sleep, so we're excited about being able to do a great job today for Sentebale, which is why we're here.
"Being a father always changes you, he seems to be very, very happy, I think this is a very exciting part of his life. He was ready for it and I think he's loving it. I always thought that he would be an amazing father because he has a great affinity for children – two weeks is very, very soon but I'm sure he's changed."
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Nacho was attending the Sentebale Polo Cup in his role as ambassador for Sentebale. The polo match is the flagship annual fundraising event for Harry's charity which helps children and young people affected by HIV in Lesotho and Botswana.
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