Invictus Games founder Prince Harry made a speech at at the Vancouver-Whistler Opening Ceremony on Saturday. He spoke to the diverse crowd of veterans and Invictus families, and he spoke about the competitors’ “courage, values and humanity.” He also said that those values deserved respect in a time “when there is no shortage of crises, no absence of uncertainty, no lack of weak moral character in the world.” All of this is true – there is a global crisis of moral character, a global leadership vacuum, and everything feels so uncertain and chaotic right now. Of course, if you think about Donald Trump 24-7, you’re going to think that Harry was referencing Trump. But think about everything else happening in the world – Harry could have been referencing dozens of other situations. Well, obviously, people are desperately trying to make this into “Harry attacked Donald Trump!” By “people,” I mean the rabid right-wing British tabloids. The Mail ran this exclusive:
Prince Harry’s apparent swipe at Donald Trump after he called his wife ‘terrible’ was an unwelcome ‘distraction’ from the good work of Invictus, one insider told MailOnline today. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been accused of choosing to ‘continuously insert themselves into the spotlight’ at the Games.
‘They have become a distraction, overshadowing the veterans who should be at the centre of it all’, one volunteer has said. ‘This event should be about the veterans, not royal spectacle’.
The Duke of Sussex used his speech to 40,000 people at the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games in Canada to bemoan ‘weak moral character in the world’ – before thanking veterans – in comments widely views as a dig at the new US President. It came after Mr Trump had batted away calls for Harry’s deportation amid controversy over his visa and his historical drug use. ‘I don’t want to do that. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible’, the President said.
Harry founded Invictus with the support of his father King Charles and brother Prince William as well as other senior royals to support and encourage wounded military personnel.
A senior Invictus Games volunteer, involved in the organising of the event in Vancouver and Whistler since it was announced in 2022, has claimed Prince Harry’s speech was a ‘woke’ distraction that would not be welcomed by wounded, injured, and sick military personnel at opening ceremony at Vancouver’s BC Place stadium.
‘While we remain committed to supporting the veterans and their families, there is growing frustration over how Harry and Meghan have dominated the narrative’, the insider said. ‘Public sentiment, especially among veterans, reflects this frustration—most do not respect how they continuously insert themselves into the spotlight. Unlike them, veterans and their families do not see themselves as victims. Their “woke” agenda dies with veterans’.
Another insider said: ‘While you can understand it, he must be upset, it is a shame that Harry chose to say what he did, when he did’.
MailOnline asked Harry’s spokesman to comment on the Duke’s speech and whether it was a reference to Donald Trump.
Just to be clear, these are random people (probably rota journalists) hearing “uncertainty” and “weak moral character” and screaming that Harry is obviously talking about Trump. If it’s not about you, why does it bother you, you know? It’s the royal reporters insisting that this was a flat reference to Trump and trying to get other people worked up about Harry being “woke.” Incidentally, I remember a time when Republicans were the ones to weaponize “moral character” for their own political purposes. Now their god is an orange, makeup-wearing rapist and Nazi and they cry when someone suggests that he might have a weak moral character. As for the quotes about Harry and Meghan “centering themselves” within Invictus… that’s how I know the Mail was just quoting some other tabloid reporter. They’re twisting themselves in knots to justify why it’s “bad” that the founder of Invictus is on the ground, supporting the games. Also: they actually understand that the games are a good thing, or else they wouldn’t be desperately trying to give William and Charles credit for Invictus.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- Vancouver, CANADA – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex makes a speech during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Invictus Games in Vancouver. Pictured: Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 9 FEBRUARY 2025 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Vancouver, CANADA – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex makes a speech during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Invictus Games in Vancouver. Pictured: Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 9 FEBRUARY 2025 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Vancouver, CANADA – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex makes a speech during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Invictus Games in Vancouver. Pictured: Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 9 FEBRUARY 2025 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Vancouver, CANADA – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex makes a speech during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Invictus Games in Vancouver. Pictured: Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 9 FEBRUARY 2025 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Vancouver, CANADA – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex at Wheelchair Basketball in Vancouver Convention Centre during Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 in Canada. Pictured: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, BACKGRID USA 9 FEBRUARY 2025 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Vancouver, CANADA – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex at Wheelchair Basketball in Vancouver Convention Centre during Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 in Canada. Pictured: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, BACKGRID USA 9 FEBRUARY 2025 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Its cliche by now but Harry said “the media makes up the news,” and that has never been more true.
The “insider” is probably made up and no one really cares anyway. Harry/Meghan are ruling the airwaves yet again. Further, they were welcomed onto indigenous lands by indigenous ppl, a door that would never be held open for any other member of the Royal Family. Ive noticed the Rota stories are ever more unoriginal and desperate as Harry/Meghan go from strength to strength.
About the indigenous people and their support of IG and H and M, I don’t think the BM and their audience think it’s important, because they don’t think those people matter. They are not going to report it or just ridicule it. It’s like Meghan’s Nigerian royal title. They don’t think it’s real royalty, because they think that’s white.
Still, I think the Monarchy and establishment CRINGE that Harry/Meghan have made inroads which they cant.
@Alexandras, I do believe KC would give one of his sausage fingers for a poto op with First Nations people. It would be declared a historic moment and he wants this kind of legacy. Huevo doesn’t get it and doesn’t care.
A “senior Invictus Games volunteer” probably doesn’t reference someone involved with the games for a while, but means an old fart who was planted by the BM complained. It’s not a shame that DT continually injects misogyny, racism and hate into the office of the presidency, but a shame that anyone calls him on it? And they can stop with the lie that founding IG had anything to do with PW or KC.
I mean, it could be William, lol, considering then it talks about how he created Invictus with the “support” of William and Charles. You mean William who didn’t know Harry was doing it until he already had board approval?
The way the Fail quotes a “senior” volunteer makes me believe it’s completely made up. Like most of their output about the Sussexes.
There’s no chain of command among the volunteers, unless they’ve changed the way they work since Düsseldorf. The people who made sure everything is running smoothly were the active duty military personnel, and in some cases, people employed by the civil services in Düsseldorf.
And it’s not like H&M are complete unknowns, everyone knows by now what they stand for, including politics. Not politics of a specific party, because they always make sure just to speak in general terms.
I would have thought that most of the helpers at the games would be woke anyway, after all, it is about helping people to recover from both physical and mental injury due to war. Definitely a woke event, pity the right have turned being woke, caring about others, into an insult
Ah now we know why Tom Bowel movements was there to getstuff to report back on
You’re probably right that the “insider” is Tom Bower.
Exactly what I was planning to say.. not difficult to get that the source is Tom Bowels.
Whatever. This is the DM being upset that Harry left with Invictus and that it no longer has ties to the Royal Family. I noticed that attempt to give credit to Charles and William too. Harry told us that William was against starting the Invictus Games and Charles has shown that the Royal Family doesn’t care about veterans.
Harry served on the front line and saw his friends and colleagues injured William was kept safe.
“Harry founded Invictus with the support of his father King Charles and brother Prince William”
Talk about trying to draw focus and center themselves…
The so called supporters Charles has them evicted from frogmore,and peg is incandescent over them
Except we now know thanks to Spare, that Harry didn’t have the support of his brother at all. These people! How pathetic! Trying to latch like leeches
That was one of my favorite moments in Spare, where William is telling Harry “they” will never sign off on Invictus Games and Harry replied, “They already have.” Such a power move by Harry, I love it.
I’d be so ashamed of someone taking credit in my name for something I didn’t do.
Especially since neither of them have ever wished the participants from the UK or any of the commonwealth nations luck in the games. Complete silence and both avoided the ten year anniversary which was in the UK. The people who were instrumental in helping Harry’s idea come to fruition all admitted that it was Harry and ably Harry who created Invictus Games from his experience with Warrior Games. Neither William or Charles knew about his plans to create IG and only knew after he had started the process of creating IG. Them going to one IG doesn’t make them part of the creation of it.
I don’t recall Charles even being mentioned during the chapters in SPARE when Harry discussed the Warrior Games and the IG. Recall William being irritated that Harry didn’t run it by him first and then complained Harry would be using up the Royal Foundation funds. Harry’s like, “No. The initial funding is coming from my Endeavour funds. The rest will be donors/sponsors.”.” paraphrasing What great supporters C & W were.lol
I think ELF was a big supporter.
Tom Bowers is the ‘senior volunteer’. That ancient rotting dinosaur volunteered to stalk the IG and “report” back. He is so gross.
Harry (and Meghan) have not been making it about them. At all. The competitors know that. They are who matters. And they appreciate the FOUNDER of the Invictus Games and his beautiful wife who supports him fully.
Wait so you make a presumption about who someone is speaking about and from there say that speaking about this specific person ( never verified) centers you and is ” woke? You know this crap is made up just from that. Haven’t there been reports that a few Royal reporters / experts/commentators have somehow found their way to the West Coast of Canada from the UK to go to Invictus to cover that irrelevant couple? They want so badly for people to hate them. And every time someone gives an interview with their name ( not as an insider) to Town and Country, or People, or Harper’s, or Marie Claire and we see photos coming from photographers without any sort of agenda showing them look happy and engaged it ruins the narrative in the UK.
Sounds like the gutter rag Daily Fail has no other story re the success of the games and the welcoming Harry and Meghan received From the original people. Therefore, because the Sussexes are out and about attempting to attend each event, they resort to personal attacks. Could be the reason that filthy looking teeth decayed Tom Bower was sent there. Seems this is his nonsense. Harry has always kept the veterans from and center at this event. The very reason it is so important to him is because of the transformation that occurs with them.
As mentioned, there is a lot of polarization taking place in our world at this time, here in my country of the United States and around the world and a connection should be made between how the Invictus Games welcomes all and how they cheer for each other regardless to country.
Given that dumpster fire’s playbook eliminates the Veterans Administration and health care for veterans? You’d think any real veterans – not Fail plants – would cheer anyone who criticizes the current US regime.
Trying to credit Charles and William for IG is to distract from the fact the current and future commanders in chief of the UK armed forces have not wished Team GB good luck for the Games on their social media platforms. And until these anonymous sources are basically from the newsroom.
It didn’t occur to me he was speaking about Felon 45. I thought, since he was in Canada, he was talking about PP and Stevie Harperooni, and maybe even Danny Smithy. I have bastardized their names cause I don’t’ want them to get ANY clicks or credits from commentary. Then for around the world, well okay, he MAY have been referencing The Felon, but also Neteyahoo and many others like Mosk and all Repubican’ts, etc.
There are so many right now in leadership positions who exhibit low moral character. Hell, he could have been speaking about his father and his brother, folks who consistently evidence the lowest of the lowest in terms of character and moral standing. And of course, Murdouchy et al…..
Lol, sour grapes, sour grapes, sour grapes…
It’s really telling that they hear the words “weak moral character” and immediately assume Harry is talking about Trump.
Truth hurts.
It’s like the time NPR or PBS was tweeting out the Declaration of Independence and Trump supporters got mad about the lines about tyranny. They didn’t recognize it and thought those lines were supposed to be about Trump. Essentially telling on themselves.
🎯
It’s baffling that the media claims that Harry and Meghan draw attention to themselves when all they do is show up. It’s the media who writes 20 articles on what Meghan is wearing, etc. Even when they do events the focus is on if they touch each other too much or if they are divorcing.
Even more baffling is that the media think that him continuing to do what he has always done with IG for the past ten years, is now him centering it around himself and his wife. Every year for IG he has given interviews to get more focus and attention towards the events and subsequently on the wounded soldiers and their families. Every year he has made a point of trying to make sure that the families and friends who are there as support as celebrated and welcomed also. It is his insistence that they are just as important to the healing process, so deserve to be respected and celebrated to that makes IG so successful. So them going to various events (sports or otherwise) is exactly part of IG success. You don’t invite people and their families to an event and completely ignore their families. You make sure that there are things in place for everyone so that no one feels ignored or left out. The UK media can’t understand that because they aren’t about inclusion or kindness.
Just tabloids attributing every accusation to unnamed sources. A lot of people in the world came to mind as having weak moral character and at the top of the list for me was Murdoch who has enabled Trump from day 1
There’s a southern saying: “A hit dog will holler.” That is 47 and his enablers everyday. The reality is that the American people voted for this. Suck it up butter cup. You don’t get to have it both ways.
Oh FFS. Listen, I am here in Whistler, and was at the opening ceremony in Vancouver. He (and she) is getting rapturous welcomes wherever he goes. And as for centering himself? Uh, yeah. He’s the bloody founder! This wouldn’t be getting so big without him! He’s worked very hard in this, and he does deserve some of the spotlight. He IS a vet himself, and has struggled with a lot of the issues faced by those competing. Gah! It’s 6 am here and I’m just fuming! lol…end rant!
@Krista 👏 👏 👏
And Harry and Meghan know their presence is part of the games getting so much attention. From what I can see, there’s all the IG photos that are wonderful but only one part. Bc then there’s the experience of being at the games for the families. So many activities and entertainment to be make the week special for the athletes. There’s so much that the cameras don’t see so saying it’s just about Harry and Meghan is bypassing a whole lot.
Krista, please tell us something about what’s happening every day of IG so we can enjoy it vicariously through you!
@janetdr would love to! I will comment on all the Harry/Invictus posts! 😊😊
I second this! And thank you, Krista!
Looks like DM are making up as many stories as possible about Harry and Meghan before the court case starts and they’ll be shut down, or at the very least unable to write stories that are untrue. Got to make as much money as possible while they still can?
@Cathy, seems like these articles are the “last kicks of a dying horse”. 🤭
They are taking random comments posted in some of the articles and trying to pass them off as comments from Invictus personnel. I definitely read a comment posted in one of the People articles which sounded almost exactly like this — ‘They have become a distraction, overshadowing the veterans …” I dont know how these people sleep at night just making shit up for profit.
The DM claims that Harry makes it all about himself at Invictus, but it is the editor of the DM who decides what the coverage of Invictus should be. So come on editor instead of encouraging your journalists to write about H & M get them to write about the competitors, give us some results, tell us how the British team is getting on. It is not Harry or Meghan who decide what you publish, it is you.
Also, the delusional writer saying Chuckles and Huevo helped Harry with INVICTUS when the opposite is true. Those two did not want Harry to do it and would not even give the money Harry raised himself to start INVICTUS. Of course, Chuckles and Huevo attended the very first opening ceremony – they would not miss that – thinking that they will benefit and even claim Invictus as their own eventually. BUT, they made it impossible for Harry to stay and work for them so Invictus went with him as he is the sole Founder.
That’s the part that is completely nonsensical. If there was any significant royal support, other than Harry, he would have never been able to leave the royal family while retaining Invictus Games. The media has endlessly, breathlessly gone on and on about how unimportant the “spare” is, so who is actually dumb enough to believe that if it wasn’t entirely Harry’s project, he would still be a huge part of it as the sole founder?
This family is known for stealing from the entire world, if they had any part of founding Invictus, they would have snatched it for the completely unworthy (and lazy) heir. Invictus Games highlights the arrested development of do nothing William like nothing else. He just looks petty and irrelevant in contrast to his younger brother, who has actually changed the world for the better.
Google translated, sorry :))
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@Christine
William’s “participation” in IG was intended to block its creation. As soon as he heard about Harry’s idea, he did everything he could to prevent it. The Queen and her trusted people helped Harry register. While William was away, Harry’s IG was recorded so no one could take it from him. When the first batches were a great success, William twice asked the Queen to take them from Harry and give them to him. The Queen refused, and besides, it was legally impossible. Then he tried twice more through lawyers.
This was William’s “participation”.:))
There was an article about this but I can’t find it.
What a pathetic piece of drivel. So they acknowledge that Trump is of weak moral character, since they assume Harry is talking about him? And they the Rota, are the ones who see the veterans as :victims”? Quoting “senior” volunteers comes from someone who can only see the world in a hierarchy. Writer getting his resentment out of his system? Misusing how the veterans feel about Harry to fan their own resentments? Is this what the wretched piece of work who looks like a hound dog “reports” back to the paper that has been and is being sued?
Gee, and I thought Harry was praising the Invictus athletes for THEIR mental strength and strong moral character. Both Harry and the premiere addressed the current political situation diplomatically, and nipped any anti-American sentiment in the bud so that the unity and camaraderie of Invictus would not be affected.
One of those occasions when they think they are being rude to Harry by saying he is publicly insulting the POTUS but they themselves have been rude to Turnip by thinking that the description fits.
Presumably the primary job of the British royals is to bring attention to good causes, which includes showing up to promote them. At least that’s the excuse for why they have to be paid millions and be put up in castles. Presumably they bring positive attention, by virtue of their glorious presence, to the opening of a new factory, the mental health of Scottish farmers, the BAFTAs (OK maybe not that anymore)… So if the BM is upset that Harry shows up to introduce Invictus, which he founded and which no taxpayer pays for, and they want only the direct participants to be visible, it seems to me that if you applied this logic across the board, Britain and indeed the world could get on just as well or better without any royal family to steal the spotlight from any cause.
Harry and Harry alone created Invictus Games ten years ago to help wounded servicemen and women all over the world. Since its inception he has given opening speeches that represent the climate for all involved and their families. He has given numerous opening speeches referring to the current climate at the time, even when Trump was president. Trump has been coaxed into insulting Meghan every since they married, so why would he care of all of the times that Trump has insulted his wife, this one time when Trump is saying he isn’t going to deport him? It sounds like the Fail is trying to create a false narrative to get Trump to react and change his mind publicly about deporting Harry. I live in the same country that this racist, misogynistic dipshit dictator is trying to destroy and even I didn’t see Harry’s speech as being directed on Trump. There are other dipshit dictators in the world and all of those in attendance have had firsthand experience with war and political instability because they are former or present soldiers and their families.
Tom Bowers, the human Gargamel, is definitely there to twist the truth and write lies about what happens there. Morals and ethics aren’t anything that he possesses. Harry is the patron and founder of IG and for ten years he has given speeches, gone to countless sporting events, given interviews and interacted with participants throughout the entire week of IG. So any volunteer would know that and would never criticize a founder for trying to make every guest there feel welcomed and appreciated. He isn’t William who creates something that’s supposed to honor people and doesn’t bother acknowledging them or even inviting them to the event.
I’m a volunteer for Invictus and this is utter and complete BS.
There is no seniority amongst the volunteers, you either are one or you’re an employee that the volunteers report to.
Volunteers and Veterans are excited to see Harry and Meg at so many events here and look forward to Harry’s speeches. There are over 1900 volunteers working the games, most of them Canadians. We are angry at Trump, feel betrayed by America as an ally, and we discuss this in much more specific and “woke” terminology than a vague reference in Harry’s speech.
Once again, the UK media is making up BS for clicks and it’s so pathetic.
Well said.
Thank you for your insider input.
These people are so hierarchically-minded, that they need to rank their “volunteers”… 😂
“A senior Invictus Games volunteer claims Harry’s speech was a distraction”. If he was a senior volunteer he would have known Harry would give a speech, and here we have he “claims” without any supporting evidence.
The DM story was probably written by someone sitting on their backside in London dreaming what someone could say.
The veterans and their families seem thrilled to see the Sussexes, constantly trying to get selfies and pictures with them. Many of these participants have been in multiple games. If they feel overshadowed or that “it’s all about Harry and Meghan”, why do they keep coming back? They don’t get paid, there’s no endorsements or cereal box covers for them. Maybe because they feel understood here and they know it’s because Harry and the team worked their asses off to make it happen. Daily Fail keeps shriveling up like a rotten banana and smells like one too.
Not sure I can recall an article more, “SURE, Jan 🙄” than this one.
Regarding Prince Harry’s Opening Ceremony speech, my take was that the Daily Fail, RR, and racist Royalists were more “bothered” by Harry quoted the great black American (woman) novelist Toni Morrison in his speech. However they couldn’t outright being racist about that, so DFail picked other parts of the speech to “twist” them to suit their purpose.
H&M getting a lot of international coverage at Invictus Game will help more countries and military members to be aware of that Invictus Foundation is there to help them physically & mentally. This year, there were two new countries participated in IG 2025. For wounded soldiers, it shows them there are people care about you & wants to help you & your family, there are sources you can tap into; and the game shows them you are not alone. These people became soldiers not for personal glory but for serving their countries. I doubt the lot of them want to be famous or celebrity.
P.S. That “obliterated the Sussex” Tom B has the nerve to show up in Vancouver. Did BM paid his expenses for this trip, I wonder?
Another day, another fairytale. I’ve decided this is how the bm sleeps at night. They just play their very own fairytales on a loop until they fall asleep.
First, the orange buffoon has insulted Harry and his wife so many time that he would be very much allowed to at least call him weak.
Second, William and Kate are respectively patrons of the Welsh and English national rugby teams and they couldn’t be bothered to show up to see them play in a competition that has been going on for two weekends. Harry and Meghan really have no lectures to receive from those people.
I know I shouldn’t be shocked any more, but yesterday I went on YouTube to see what I could find of Chris Martin’s IG performance. I searched “Invictus Games” and absolutely every other video was some petty little Brit royal “news” site sh*tting on H+M – especially on Meghan. It makes me sick.
Sorry, but that’s absolute bullshit.
This can only say if they didn’t see anything, weren’t there or just want to spread untruths.🥴
“A senior Invictus Games volunteer?” Please, you are not talking about courtiers! You can tell they are just making things up out of whole cloth. Isn’t it interesting, though, they they immediately think Harry is talking about Trump when he talks about a lack of morality.
They can’t imagine any group that doesn’t involve hierarchy.
Oh, please. No one volunteering for Invictus said these things and PH. I call BS.
I was going to say the same lol. File this one under prob never happened!