The Princess of Wales was on hand to catch a charity polo cup that was dropped by a player during the trophy presentation.

In a long-standing tradition, the Prince of Wales took part in the DMMI Royal Charity Cup at the Guards Polo Club at Windsor on Friday.

Princess Kate watched on as Prince William led his team of top professional players, as well as keen amateurs, to victory.

As William stood on the podium, flanked by his teammates as they waited to receive the prize, one of the players dropped the trophy.

However, Kate was there to save the day as she calmly helped the player put the trophy back together before holding it up for the cameras.

It was the future king’s 15th appearance at the event, and William, as usual, played the defensive position of number four.

As for Kate, it was her first time back at the polo charity match in two years, as she debriefed with her sportsman husband partway through one of the games, alongside Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling, who married each other last month.

Speaking over a tannoy, commentator Karl Ude Martinez reminded the crowd of the royal family’s polo legacy and how William and the Duke of Sussex used to compete together.

The Princess of Wales was on hand to catch a charity polo cup that was dropped by a player during the trophy presentation

Kate was there to save the day as she calmly helped the player put the trophy together before holding it up for the cameras

It was Kate’s first time back at the polo charity match in two years, as she debriefed with her sportsman husband partway through one of the games

He said: ‘Obviously his brother plays, they play a lot together – they used to play a lot together.’

‘His father played, King Charles got up to a very good handicap. Their grandfather played, the late Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, he played for many, many years and competed in many a big tournament.

‘Their father before that played. They’ve played for many, many generations and it is something that is very close to their heart.’

William’s squad included former England captain Mark Tomlinson, Saudi businessman Amr Zedan and Leicester City FC chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha. 

Mr Martinez praised William’s defensive skills that led his US Polo Association team to a goal as temperatures neared 30C.  

Polo players must hold the mallet in their right hand, and the commentator said: ‘In fact, the Prince of Wales is left-handed, but he had to learn to play with his right hand 

‘He’s also an Aston Villa fan but we won’t hold that against him.’

William braved the heat as ‘a true professional’, Mr Martinez said, adding: ‘He has played for many years, but he doesn’t often get time to play.

‘He doesn’t get time to play at all, really, because of his commitments and his busy schedule.

‘To have him here today to play is truly a very, very rare occasion.’

Kate last attended the charity polo match in 2023 – and the following March, the future Queen announced she had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer following planned abdominal surgery.

She is currently in remission, with the mother-of-three going from strength to strength as she recently completed the Three Peaks Challenge to spread her message of life after cancer.

The event raised £1,050,000, pushing the Royal Charity Polo Cup’s total to more than £15 million.

The funds raised today will be distributed across ten charities and causes supported by William and Kate, including the Wales Air Ambulance and Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

Kate donned a casual, sleeveless gingham dress in a departure from her more typically formal style as she cheered on husband Prince William at Guards Polo Clu 

The Prince of Wales played his usual defensive role during the match

Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling were also in attendance at today’s polo match in Windsor

Meanwhile, William’s estranged brother, Prince Harry, was in Birmingham on Friday as he launched the one-year countdown to his Invictus Games at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).

Harry won a wheelchair rugby exhibition match and was in his element rushing around the court, crashing into opponents with glee and scoring tries.

The event was part of a series of showcase sports highlighting events that will be staged when Birmingham hosts the Invictus Games. 

Later in the day, a long-awaited royal reunion came as Charles and Camilla secretly welcomed Harry, Meghan and their two children to Highgrove. 

The meeting took place at the monarch’s private Gloucestershire residence, a short drive from both Oxfordshire, where Charles had been undertaking official engagements, and Birmingham, where the Duke of Sussex had been at an event for a countdown to his Invictus Games.

Charles has not seen California-dwelling Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet since 2022, when they were just three and one.

He last saw Harry, 41, in September last year, but earlier this week was forced to publicly slap him down after Harry’s PR team incorrectly briefed that he had accepted an invitation to stay at Buckingham Palace during his visit to the UK this week.

Harry arrived in the UK on Monday. The following day, he lost his High Court case alleging wrongdoing by Associated Newspapers, the publishers of the Daily Mail, and yesterday he started the year-long countdown to his Invictus Games.

Buckingham Palace refused to discuss any further details of what was described as a ‘private family occasion’.