As Prince Harry stepped out for the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games in The Hague, Netherlands, on April 16, he appeared to have a spring in his step – which has barely been seen since he and wife Meghan Markle turned their back on their royal lives in early 2020.
The event, a competition for wounded, injured or sick servicemen and women, holds a special place in the heart of the dad-of-two. Not only did the Duke of Sussex, 37, serve in the British Army for a decade, he also founded the games in 2014, which is widely hailed as his “greatest achievement”.
“Invictus is his family, basically,” Harry’s friend and disabled athlete Jaco Van Gass told the Associated Press. “[Harry’s] back with his own people, he’s back in an environment that he’s so natural in and that he cares about.”
The comeback, which came a day after the Sussexes stopped off in England to visit the Queen and Prince Charles, 73, on their way to the Netherlands, looked to be a fresh start for the couple. But hopes for a Windsor reconciliation were short-lived with the prince wasting no time in opening up old wounds.
While details of a private family gathering would normally remain firmly behind closed doors, Harry quickly shared information about the get-together with his grandmother, 96, in the press.
“Both Meghan and I had tea with her, so it was really nice to catch up with her,” he told the US Today show’s Hoda Kotb.
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