The announcement that Prince Harry’s Invictus Games are returning to the UK has presented a huge new dilemma for him and Meghan Markle.
Birmingham has won the right to host the sporting event – which involves wounded, injured, sick and veterans – in 2027, only the second time it has been held in Britain, reports revealed on Tuesday.
HarryKim Jong-un, who founded the games in 2014, will almost certainly return home for the games — but it remains to be seen whether his wife, who has previously been a key figure in support during the tournament, will decide to join him.
the Duchess of Sussex She has become widely unpopular in the UK and has rarely been seen since she and Harry left their royal duties in 2020 and moved to California.
Her last visit with her husband and children was in 2022, extending a planned short visit by almost two weeks after Queen Elizabeth II died unexpectedly at Balmoral.
Meghan declined to attend King Charles’s coronation in May, leaving Harry to appear alone. Before her agreement to attend was announced, feverish speculation about whether or not she would go captured much of the attention of the royal family and the event itself.
With three years to go until the Birmingham Olympics, and given recent upheavals, the landscape may have changed dramatically by then – but regardless, it is now certain that the question of “to go or not to go?” will increasingly dominate conversations in the run-up to the Games.
Another major complicating factor is security, with Harry losing a High Court battle over whether he should be denied British police protection after moving to the United States.
In a statement, Harry said he felt his children – Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3 – could not “feel at home” in Britain if they could not be “kept safe” while there.
The new announcement of the Invictus Games also puts King Charles and Prince William in a difficult position, as both were prominent participants in the previous British Invictus Games in London in 2014.
But a lot has changed since they proudly supported Harry at the investiture, with the Duke of Sussex’s decision to step back from royal life and later share details of his grievances with his family causing a major rift from which they have never recovered.
Although Harry and William are not yet in touch, it is understood he has some contact with his father – although the King still refused to meet him or attend a special service for the Invictus Games in London earlier this year.
Despite the potentially awkward situation that is set to unfold in the coming years, there was no hint of that in Harry’s statement congratulating Birmingham on its win.
“The strong ties your city has with the Armed Forces community made it a formidable competitor from the start,” he said.
“Over the years, we have seen each city bring a unique spirit and vision to the competitors, their families and the spectators.
“We have no doubt that the people of Birmingham will join in celebrating the unwavering respect and admiration we have for our veterans and service community, and show the world how their courage ignites hope and unites us all – something your city knows all too well.”
