Polo matches seem to be a time when the British Royal Family let their hair down, despite the fact that they generally maintain a stiff upper lip.
But the day doesn’t always go as planned, from Charles and Diana’s awkward kisses to Meghan Markle and the Princess of Wales’s uncomfortable outing in 2019.
For instance, when Prince Harry, 38, and one of his younger teammates attempted to lift a bulky trophy over the Duchess of Sussex’s head for a photo in May 2022, she ended up squished between them.
But the most awkward royal polo moment without a doubt occurred in 1992 between Princess Diana and King Charles.
The then-Prince and Princess of Wales’s separation was all but confirmed to the public when, during a kiss in India in 1992, the Princess jerked her head back, allowing her husband’s tightly pursed lips to touch the side of her hair instead.
At the awards ceremony after the polo match in Jaipur, Princess Diana looked away when Charle moved in to kiss her on the cheek.
Body language expert Judi James told Express.co.uk: “Charles and Diana are mainly remembered for the shocking miss-kiss at the end of their marriage when Diana rejected Charles by turning her head away.
“This left Charles planting his kiss in her hair. But in 1985 and 1987 they were also kissing on the lips with surprisingly passionate and rather intimate PDAs of their own, that could almost rival the kiss by Harry and Meghan.
“Diana would smile coyly as they kissed full on the lips and her head tilt looked loving.
“Charles was later leaning into their other kiss in a gesture of keenness and a hint of romantic passion.”
Prince Harry was born in 1984, and just a few months after this the couple shared an awkward and distant kiss after Charles’s polo victory in 1985.
There were many times when the marriage appeared uncomfortable, including when Diana appeared sad as Charles displayed his sporting prowess on the pitch.
Kate, who has always been a supportive wife, is frequently seen encouraging Prince William as he competes in polo matches.
In 2019, the mother-of-three was joined by Meghan to witness William and Harry play together.
Relations between the wives were reported to be tense at the time, and it is now thought that the appearance was an attempt to present a united front following months of alleged disputes between the two couples.
Since Prince Archie’s birth in May 2019, the Sussexes and the then-Cambridges had not been seen together as a family.
Meghan and Kate were usually only spotted together at Royal Family-wide ceremonial events like Trooping the Colour.
In pictures from the occasion, Meghan could be seen holding her baby and giving him a loving kiss while standing apart from Kate and her family.
The Princess kept her three children, who were running about the field and chasing after a football, entertained for the majority of the game.
The women didn’t seem to talk much, despite standing near one another for a while during the match.
Prince Louis, who was one year old at the time, put on his mother’s sunglasses and then turned to face his aunt, sticking out his tongue in a moment that seemed to thaw the ice between the two ladies.
