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Prince Harry describes ten years of Sentebale as 'emotional rollercoaster'

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Prince Harry gave a passionate speech on Thursday, as he described the ten years since he set up charity Sentebale as an "emotional rollercoaster." Speaking before a dinner, held in honour of the Sentebale Polo Cup which Harry had participated in earlier in the day , the Prince added: "If you'd asked me ten years ago how these next ten years would look I wouldn't have predicted we'd be playing polo in Abu Dhabi in the same weekend of the Grand Prix weekend."

The 30-year-old Prince founded the charity, which in English means "forget-me-not" in 2006, two years after his gap year to Lesotho.

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He continued: "Playing polo in the middle of the desert, this is fantastic, and it has been an emotional rollercoaster but we've come out on top and all I ever want to do is raise enough money so we can make a difference."

Sentebale is currently building the Mamohato Children's Centre in Lesotho, a purpose-built residential centre, due to be opened in July 2015. The charity hopes it will be able to provide comprehensive help for children with HIV and other problems.

Harry spoke of problems the charity had faced, but did not reveal details, and concluded: "Ten years down the line we have made a couple of mistakes and in turn learned from our mistakes and now we know that actually, by speaking to the core problem, which in this case is the children themselves - it doesn't matter whether they are eight, nine, 10, 15 - by actually speaking to them you get a really good taste of whether you're achieving it or not. 

"The great thing about Lesotho is that because it's so small, you know that if you're doing it wrong, it's highly visible."

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Earlier on Thursday, Harry, considered one of the most eligible bachelors in the world, caused a frenzy among locals and royal watchers when he was spotted arriving at the Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club.

As the floodlights were switched on for the evening game,  Harry took to the pitch as captain of the Sentebale Huntsman team. He battled against professional polo players including Argentina's Nacho Figueras, who led the opposing St. Regis team and is an ambassador for Harry's charity.

As the match drew to an end, spectators and celebrities watching from the sidelines, including newly engaged Geri Halliwell and her fiancé Christian Horner, cheered the teams on in their bid to win the Sentebale Polo Cup trophy.

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