The Duke of Sussex attended a reception to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Invictus Games, at London’s Guildhall on Tuesday night, and stepped out with his new private secretary Fiona Mcilwham. The Duchess of Sussex, meanwhile, stayed at home in Windsor to look after the couple's young son Archie. Prince Harry, 34, was inspired to create the international multi-sport tournament for injured and wounded servicemen and women, after watching the Warrior Games in Colorado in 2013. Guests include former competitors and their families, supporters of the Invictus Games movement and representatives from the military community. Harry made a speech after hearing former competitors JJ Chalmers from the UK and William Reynolds from the USA share their recovery journey post-Games.
Prince Harry stepped out for the fifth anniversary celebrations of the Invictus Games on Tuesday
The royal gave an emotional speech, telling the crowd that it had been "genuinely one of the greatest honours of my life" to work with the inspirational servicemen and women behind his Invictus Games. Dominic Reid, chief executive of the Invictus Games Foundation, then described Harry as "the beating heart of Invictus." He said: "He's driven this, he is responsible for this. It's him that always drags us back to what this is about: the competitors, their recovery and their families."
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Harry opens up about the Invictus Games
It’s been five years since Harry launched the Invictus Games London 2014, which saw over 400 competitors from 13 nations competing in front of thousands of spectators. Since then, the Games have taken place in Orlando in May 2016, Toronto in September 2017 and Sydney in October 2018 with more competitors and nations taking part.
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Harry and then-girlfriend Meghan made their public debut at the Toronto Games in 2017, just before they announced their engagement. The Duke visited The Netherlands just days after the birth of his son Archie Harrison in May to launch the one-year countdown to the Invictus Games in The Hague, which will host the fifth event in 2020. On Wednesday, Harry will attend the 15th annual BGC Charity Day, where under the guidance of brokers, he’ll take to their Canary Wharf trade floor to raise money for the charity and the Invictus Games Foundation.