Prince Harry and his fiancée Meghan Markle were at the University of Bath today, to attend the UK team trials for the 2018 Invictus Games, which will be held in Sydney. With just six weeks until their much-awaited nuptials, Meghan and Harry seemed relaxed, and were even wearing matching Invictus polo shirts!
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The Invictus Games were created by Prince Harry and are essentially an Olympic Games for wounded, injured and sick service personnel. The Games, which were first held in London back in 2014, have been a key focus for the Prince in recent years, and also served as the backdrop for his first official appearance with Meghan last September.
The trials took place at the University of Bath’s Sports Training Village; the University is no stranger to royal guests, as Harry’s uncle The Earl of Wessex is Chancellor. The trials have been organised by the charity Help for Heroes, in conjunction with the Ministry of Defence, the Royal British Legion and the Endeavour Fund.
Meghan and Prince Harry watch shot-put hopefuls, wanting to earn a place in the UK’s 2018 Invictus Games team (Kensington Palace)
#PrinceHarry and #MeghanMarkle watch the @WeAreInvictus shotput trials pic.twitter.com/7AYODu9iH0
— Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) April 6, 2018
Meghan and Harry attended the Endeavour Fund Awards in February, suggesting that Meghan will support Harry’s focus on military veterans during her royal career.
During today’s engagement, the engaged couple watched trials for various sports, including shot-put and indoor sitting volleyball, which is one of the 11 adapted sports which feature in the Invictus Games. The bride and groom-to-be also had the chance to speak to many of the veterans and service personnel hoping to earn a place in Sydney, including some who competed in last year’s Games in Toronto.
Meghan joked with one group “I now talk about the weather all the time!”
The former army captain looked pleased to see some familiar faces at the trials; he has always loved the military for this sort of brotherhood and friendship it offers him.
Prince Harry and Meghan did not attend the Easter Sunday service at Windsor Castle, which they ‘spent privately’ elsewhere. This is their sixth joint-engagement, the last been a surprise trip to Belfast, plus visits to Cardiff, Edinburgh, Birmingham and in London.
Meghan and Harry speak to Kelly Ganfield, a competitor from last year’s Games who is hoping for a spot in Sydney (Kensington Palace)
While discussing how much she had enjoyed the Toronto Games last year, Meghan also let slip that she will be joining her future husband in Sydney for the Games in October. Australia is, of course, a member of the Commonwealth and so this will be a significant visit for the new Royal. However, this has not yet been officially confirmed by Kensington Palace and it is always possible that Meghan and Harry will carry out another foreign tour between their 19th May wedding and the Games, which begin on 20th October.
Prince Harry and Ms. Markle speak to competitors watching the indoor sitting volleyball trials – one of the 11 adaptive sports of the @InvictusSydney games. #IG2018 pic.twitter.com/AwgD8jRmvB
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) 6 April 2018
