Between Prince Charles, Harry visits, much has changed in Wellington

Editor's note: This story originally published in 2016.

Before Wellington was even officially a village, the area had become best known as: “the place where Prince Charles plays polo.”

The small, unincorporated area with lots of dirt roads had become fit for royalty. Charles, who was regarded as the most famous player in the world, kept coming back to Florida, splitting his time between Wellington and Vero Beach.

Now, decades later, his son Harry will be doing the same.

Prince Harry, of Wales, will be making a quick pit stop in Palm Beach County to play a charity polo match Wednesday at Valiente Polo Farms. The games will be by invite only, and Harry will then head north of Orlando for the Invictus Games, where he will stay for more than a week.

Those games, held at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports, are for veterans injured in service to their country. They’ll run from May 8-12, and Prince Harry will leave on May 13.

Harry is working with his charity, Sentebale, which specializes in helping children who have been affected by the AIDS and HIV epidemic.

For Bob Jornayvaz, the host of the event and a polo patron, it will be an honor to share the same field with the prince. He described himself as “a kid waiting for Christmas.”

But, just like during his father’s trips decades ago, Harry’s visit will have an impact on more than just the polo community.

Newly elected councilman Michael Drahos vaguely remembers watching Prince Charles take the field in the ’80s. He wasn’t even 10 yet, but Drahos would always beam with pride when people outside Wellington would talk about the prince’s visits.

It was a different time then.

In 1985, Princess Diana joined Charles for a visit to what would later become the Winter Equestrian Capital of the World. More than 15,000 people packed the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club to get a glimpse of the royal couple.

At the time, when many people in Palm Beach County thought civilization ended at Military Trail, that’s what put Wellington on the map.

“I remember, as a kid, when we would host the royal family for polo in Wellington, it was such a huge honor,” Drahos said. “There was such a big sense of community pride.”

Charles and Diana arrived by Royal Air Force jet at 12:30 p.m., Nov. 12 at Palm Beach International Airport and headed to Palm Beach Polo and Country Club in Wellington for a 3 p.m. match, after which Princess Diana presented the Princess of Wales Trophy to the winning team. Later, they partied at The Breakers with Bob Hope. It was during this same trip to the United States that Diana famously danced with John Travolta.

This trip will be a little more private, but those close to it are still excited.

Local photographer Ami Shabbot has been capturing photos of polo games for years but hasn’t ever gotten the chance to take pictures of a prince.

“When they told me Harry was coming, I didn’t dream for a second that I would be (selected),” he said.

Wellington officials are happy to see Prince Harry stopping by, but they don’t expect the fanfare of his father’s visits. Because of the privacy surrounding the event, Village Manager Paul Schofield doesn’t think it will affect traffic too much.

But there will likely be more people from the surrounding area coming to Wellington that day, so that’s always a good thing.

“I’m a city manager, Schofield said. “We like people coming to our city.”