Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Have been ‘Extraordinarily Fingers-On’ with ‘Polo’ Docuseries (Unique)

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry had been completely targeted on bringing the world of polo to Netflix with their new documentary collection, Polo, the present’s govt producer and showrunner Miloš Balać says.

Polo premieres on Netflix on Dec. 10, taking viewers into what’s nicknamed “the game of kings” throughout 5 episodes. The collection follows elite world gamers as they saddle up in Wellington, Florida, for the U.S. Open Polo Championship, pulling again the curtain on the glamorous equestrian sport and the grit vital for fulfillment. 

Avid polo participant Prince Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, served as govt producers on the mission from their Archewell Productions firm and Boardwalk Footage. Balać (who additionally served as co-executive producer for Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s Emmy Award-winning docuseries Welcome to Wrexham on FX) tells PEOPLE that the couple had a real “imaginative and prescient” for bringing all of it collectively.

“They had been fantastic. They had been extraordinarily hands-on,” the showrunner completely tells PEOPLE. “They actually had a imaginative and prescient for attempting to get polo to be accessible to a wider viewers. Prince Harry is aware of the game in and out. To have the ability to have him as somebody to bounce concepts off of after which additionally to get notes from… ‘Perhaps when you edit it like this, the polo will simply really feel much more thrilling. Otherwise you received to be sure that the purpose is performed out like this as a result of that is how you retain it factually correct,’ ” Balać says. “To have a polo skilled in-house with him was so particular. I believe plenty of tasks have EPs that can provide nice notes, nevertheless it’s uncommon that you’ve somebody who’s really an skilled within the topic that you’re documenting.”

The Duke of Sussex has performed polo for years and saddles up yearly for the Sentebale Polo Cup, his charity’s flagship fundraiser. Balać tells PEOPLE that Prince Harry hoped (because the bigger staff did) to deliver in Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso, a father and son set of polo stars. Adolfo is esteemed as among the finest polo gamers of all time, whereas his 17-year-old son is an rising expertise. 

“I believe his hope from very early on, which was all of our hopes, is that the Cambiaso’s would have an interest and prepared to take part due to how a lot they imply on this world and to the game and the way a lot they’ve contributed as a complete,” Balać says. “On high of that, simply having the unimaginable story that they’ve as a father-son duo which have performed aspect by aspect for thus lengthy and [spoiler alert!] had been lastly enjoying towards one another. So it was undoubtedly early on it was like, ‘Let’s attempt to get the Cambiasos,’ was one thing he placed on my to-do listing and we had been in a position to do it, in order that was an awesome payoff.” 

The Duchess of Sussex, in the meantime, has been a supportive partner and her husband’s’s primary supporter at his polo matches by way of the years. Balać says that Meghan wished Polo to seize the welcoming vitality of the sideline scene — a little-known facet of the sport. 

“I believe I spoke to them earlier than I ever went to a polo match and it was [Meghan] who actually prepped me for the way splendidly informal polo will be,” Balać tells PEOPLE concerning the Duchess of Sussex’s particular concept for the collection. 

“Sunday polo on Area One on the U.S. Polo Middle is an enormous to-do the place folks have champagne brunches and include their lovely outfits. However the remainder of the week, each polo match is definitely so right down to earth. It is lots of people pulling up of their pickup vehicles and their cowboy boots, if not barefoot, with their canines and their households and their youngsters to observe the sport that they love,” Balać tells PEOPLE. “They’re there to not see and be seen, however to benefit from the sport that they actually care about and other people present as much as that free of charge and also you simply pull up and she or he stated that that is what she loves.”

“She additionally loves tailgating at a polo match, and that simply kind of set a lightbulb in my head the place I used to be like, ‘Oh, this world is actually not going to be what I believe it’s, in a great way,” the showrunner continues. “And we had been in a position to then dig deeper into all of the methods that it’s not what folks assume it’s.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s longtime good friend, Ignacio “Nacho” Figueras, seems in Polo as an skilled and was additionally concerned behind the digicam as a consulting producer. Balać tells PEOPLE that the robust bond between Prince Harry and Nacho was evident. 

“They are surely nice pals. That a lot is past apparent. When Prince Harry occurred to be alongside for the Sentebale charity match, which we featured, simply seeing them collectively on the polo area was infectious,” he says. “It is like two buddies who actually love one another and love the game collectively having a good time and elevating cash for a great trigger was simply such a great vibe day. And Nacho actually is only a fantastic, beautiful human. So anytime he is round is an effective time.” 

Figueras, 47, has lengthy supported Prince Harry’s charity Sentebale as an envoy, and the buddies are identified to journey the world collectively to compete within the Sentebale Polo Cup, which fundraises for the charity Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho established in 2006 as a help for younger folks in southern Africa. Balać referred to as Figueras his “ambassador” to studying extra concerning the world of polo (a sport synonymous with the royal household for generations) and says bringing the sport to Netflix screens with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was an unforgettable expertise. 

“Working with them was undoubtedly particular. I believe they had been superb collaborators that introduced a lot vitality and fervour to the mission as a complete. Polo is one in every of Prince Harry’s best passions. Evidently Meghan has adopted it as one in every of hers too, simply by way of being his companion,” Balać tells PEOPLE. “She additionally loves the game, and it was actually enjoyable to speak to her about what she loves about [it]. And Harry comes at it from the athlete perspective, so it was nice to have each of these views to assist inform how I might go about sharing this world.”

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On the eve of the premiere of Polo, the showrunner says, “We’re simply so excited that this collection is coming into the world now. We actually hope that folks fall in love with this solid of characters. On the finish of the day, I need folks to know that this is not a typical sports activities documentary. It is about human tales and discovering methods to attach with individuals who you won’t in any other case and alongside the way in which fall in love with a sport that nothing about. So I simply hope folks give it a watch and love what they see.”

POLO is now streaming on Netflix.