Harry and Meghan pay tribute to Ukrainians at the Invictus Games
During a statement at the Invictus Games opening ceremony in the Netherlands, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that everyone is “standing with” the Ukraine team.
The couple spoke to a throng in The Hague that included members of the Dutch royal family and Prime Minister Mark Rutte, thanking the Ukrainian competitors for participating in the competition.
The duchess said: “For each team, my husband and I both recognise it’s been a lot to get here, both physically and emotionally. Not least … for the Ukraine team, who we are all standing with.”
The Duke of Sussex also paid tribute to the “bravery” of team Ukraine. He said: “Your bravery in choosing to come, and for being here tonight, cannot be overstated.
“You told me yesterday when you decided to join us despite all odds, you said you came to be on this global stage, not simply to show your strength, but to tell your truth, the truth, of what is happening in your country.
“You know we stand with you. The world is united with you and still you deserve more. And my hope is that these events, this event, creates the opportunity in how we as a global community can better show up for you.”
The duke and duchess participated in a junior driving competition in which they were driven around a circuit in small Land Rovers before to the opening ceremony.
The couple made an appearance at The Hague’s Zuiderpark on Thursday, following a low-key reunion with the Queen and Prince of Wales in Windsor, the duchess’s first journey back to Europe since her departure from formal royal life.
As part of the upcoming Netflix documentary Heart of Invictus, a film team is joining Harry and Meghan to the games. It’s the first show produced by Archewell Productions, the royal couple’s newly founded television production company, as part of their $100 million (£76.5 million) arrangement with the streaming service.
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A behind-the-scenes look at athletes competing in the Invictus Games, an international athletic event organised by Prince Harry for wounded, injured, and sick servicemen and women, will be featured in the documentary.
Oksana Horbach, the Invictus Games Ukraine team manager, will appear in the documentary.
Horbach, who is in the Ukraine armed forces working with food supply chains in Kyiv, said: “I spoke with Meghan about the importance of having a voice and she totally understood that – be heard, be vocal, have a voice, just tell your own truth, your experience. It’s very important to her.
“And she told me that it is something that they support profoundly, with full heart, to have this platform, Invictus Games platform, for the nations, especially for Ukraine, to be able to have that voice.”
The couple is claimed to receive VVIP status and Dutch police protection while in the Netherlands. They excused themselves from the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service in London last month due to security concerns.
Despite promising to pay for it himself, Harry is making a claim against the Home Office after being told he would no longer be allowed the same level of personal protective security while coming from the US.
The duke wants to bring his children to see him, but his legal representative says he and his family are “unable to return to his home” because it is too hazardous.
