Prince Harry Arrives for Veuve Clicquot's Manhattan Polo Classic and the Reopening of New York's Governor Island

Updated Fri. May 29: Prince Harry is here! To play polo no less, kicking off the much-anticipated reopening of New York’s Governors Island, at the second annual Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo classic on May 30.

This will be Prince Harry’s first official visit to the US, where he will be playing on a team captained by Nick Raldo against Black Watch captained by Nacho Figueras (the new face of Ralph Lauren’s Polo fragrance).

We now have more news on Prince Harry’s schedule in New York. Looking out my window, I can see the commotion building.

Prince Harry is visiting Ground Zero and also the opening of the British Memorial Garden in Hanover Square, in honor of those Britons who died on Sept. 11.

British Memorial Garden New York in Hanover SquareThere is also more news on the philanthropy being supported in tomorrow’s Manhattan Polo Classic, Prince Harry’s Lesotho charity Sentebale.

In an exciting boost for the Harlem Children’s Zone (see Michelle-Style The Harlem Children’s Zone Eliminates Racial Achievement Gap), Prince Harry will visit this hot bed of progressive thinking, endorsed strongly by President Obama, on Saturday. See our Michelle-Style update with Prince Harry’s film about Sentebale and his mother, Princess Diana.

It’s been nearly a year since I wrote about last year’s maiden polo match on Governors Island. Since then GI has undergone a rebirth of sorts, on the way to becoming a stunning eco-park that will be (hopefully) finished by 2012.

See my Jan. 2009 blog on Governor’s Island and the exciting plans for our eco-park future.

This moment I don’t have the environment on my mind. Waiting for Michelle Obama to make her UC-Merced commencement address, I have horses on my mind.

Will Rachel Alexandra win the Preakness today?

Polo has the reputation of being a sport for the elite. And it is, but the picnic grounds for the Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo classic are open to the general public. There is no reason to confine picnics to Carversville, and I now enjoy them in Battery Park as well. (See J’Adore: An Elegant Picnic).

Black Watch Polo: Soul. Tradition. Beauty.

Polo is very much about living “la dolce vita”, so I want to share both a polo video and lifestyle photos from last year’s Governor’s Island polo match. In the interest of full disclosure, when it comes to champagne, Veuve Cliquot is my brand. Anne