The People’s Prince was in full flight on Monday. Prince Harry flew into Vancouver over the weekend and popped up at the Grey Cup on Sunday. Then on Monday, he made a “surprise” stop at the Seaforth Academy to hang out with the students there and introduce them to the Invictus Games and everything in and around Invictus. Most of the students are from military families, I think? And the photos show a man full of charm who loves to be around kids. He’s listening to them, engaging with them. He’s absolutely not wandering around like Lurch, pointing a gnarled finger at them while performatively grimacing. Not that I’m making any specific reference.
On Nov. 18, the Duke of Sussex, 40, appeared at the Seaforth Armoury in Vancouver to launch the School Program from the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025, presented by ATCO and Boeing. Prince Harry, a former captain in the British Army, created the Invictus Games, an international adaptive sports tournament for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans, in 2014 as a means for healing, and the next iteration will be held in Vancouver and Whistler in February of next year.
Prince Harry visited the historic military facility to join students in a range of activities, marking the launch of an online program aimed at introducing the Invictus Games to schools everywhere. As a father to two young children — Prince Archie, 5 and Princess Lilibet, 3 — Harry’s natural parenting skills were on full display as he interacted with the kids.
“Seeing them learn about the Invictus Games has had a profound impact on me because this is where Invictus starts to go even wider outside of the Invictus community, into schools in Canada and hopefully around the world,” Prince Harry said in a speech shared to X. The visit comes 81 days before the next cycle of the Invictus Games begins.
I adore Harry and everything, but I have some questions: are they developing an Invictus-type program for schools and if so, why? While the Invictus Games always feature family-friendly, kid-friendly interactive events, is the idea to really create something like an Invictus course or an Invictus program for all schools, or just military schools? While I think it’s really cool that he did this (visited a school full of military kids), I just think it’s kind of a difficult sell to take this wider? Especially when Invictus has been needing to grow itself – the number of applications rises significantly each year, and they’ve needed to expand how many competitors they bring in for a while.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
He may be looking to expand Invictus’ focus from just the games and injured service members, to supporting military families during and after deployment, and having the games be just one facet of everything that Invictus foundation does. He has said that he hopes the originating purpose of the games (i.e , service people injured in conflicts), is something that we won’t have a need for in the future, so this may be part of the first steps. I read on Sussex.com that they also gave the kids and their families tickets to the upcoming games. This is how you do community engagement properly. He doesn’t just show up for 30 minutes make pained small talk, and then they don’t hear from or see him again.
I remember my PR training where my instructor told me that if you have to explain why your principal is involved in X activity in more than one sentence, they shouldn’t be doing it. Allow me to demonstrate:
Education is an obvious next step for Harry, who has championed mental health, the military and sports.
From a brand perspective, this absolutely makes sense for Harry and he’s a natural with kids. Military families and the wider military establishment in countries all over the world will be very supportive of bringing awareness about both the negative and the positive of military service to a broader audience through education, knitting ties across those who serve and those who benefit from that service. Another great example of how Harry and Meghan are bringing the good!
sorry, just to be clear: I meant that I can explain Harry’s support of education in one sentence, so it’s great!
@Dee(2)
Ditto to everything you said.
Ad for the record and hint hint to all gossip churnalists: if you really want some scoops about the Sussexes and what theyre doing, check their websiteS.
This type of content for schools is quite standard for any big event that is taking place. When I was a teacher there were lesson plans for the olympics provided by the Olympic Association, what Invictus is doing is not unusual. It’s great that Invictus is getting the message out to school kids in this way.
When I was teaching I would return from the NEA convention with suitcases full of curriculum guides/ activities that I could use in the classroom.
Iirc, schools took field trips to the last IG. So I’m assuming schools are going to bring kids again. It’s pretty standard for teachers and schools to do enrichment activities about an upcoming trip. So the kids have that context before the visit and can get excited about it. It’s cute that someone from IG worked with the schools to develop these activities. It’ll have the kids more into the games when they visit.
I totally agree with @Dee. The engagement with the students to me is for the kids to see first hand the impact of wars on families and to allow students to vocalize their concerns re the impact having parents in the military have on their lives. Children are our future and the more they know the easier it will be to keep them engaged with current events and the resulting impact of those events. While children and families do attend the Invictus Games, it is usually the result of a family member having obtained an injury and are participating in the games.
It’s a lesson in perseverance and conquering what life throws at you.. it’s a beautiful lesson for military and civilians. Seeing adaptive sports and trying them might just make these kids include a child in a wheel chair for an adaptive and inclusive game. I think this is a wonderful thing. I hope we see lots of families civilian and military the games.
When I was in school, kids were vicious little beasts toward anybody who was “weak” and I don’t imagine they’ve changed much now. IG seems like a great way to encourage empathy and understanding.
Invictus was started as a program for military vets but could be expanded to more than military. It’ll be exciting to see the evolution.
As example, the War Amps program in Canada has now evolved to cover more than war amputees. Adrian Anantawan is a sparkling example of how War Amps has helped him.
https://www.adriananantawan.com/
https://www.waramps.ca/ways-we-help/child-amputees/
Now this is how you do a visit. Harry engages with all of the children listens to what the have to say. If anyone is a statesman Harry is.
A son his father should be proud of.
A father whose son & daughter are definitely proud of him. Thats one of the things that focuses H’s energy.
If it’s about teaching children about people with disabilities and the importance of mental health and sport, I don’t see what the problem is.
Schools are important places for educating young people about important cultural, national, historical, and current events. Informing kids is informing the next generation. Invictus deals with important things like mental health, community support, how to struggle towards the light, etc. Schools are still a place where important lessons can be learned. Not surprising to see Invictus working with educators and children.