Prince Harry hired an old ally to take over as CEO of the Invictus Vancouver games

Several weeks ago, the Daily Mail breathlessly reported on all of the drama around the 2025 Invictus Games in Vancouver and Whistler. We’re fourteen months away from the games, which is plenty of time for all of the organization needed for Invictus’s first “winter games.” Previously, the Mail turned some somewhat minor staff issues into an excuse to smear Prince Harry and Meghan. Some “source” (who sounded like a Mail editor) claimed that Canadian organizers are mad at Harry and Meghan for “demanding” security in Canada and suggesting that Invictus is struggling financially. None of which is true. Now the Mail has an update: Invictus hired someone who used to work at the Royal Foundation.

One of Prince Harry’s most trusted British aides, who also served the Prince and Princess of Wales for years, has taken over the running of the next Invictus Games in Canada amid turmoil at the event, MailOnline can exclusively reveal today. Nick Booth has stepped in as interim CEO of Vancouver and Whistler 2025, which will feature winter sports for the first time.

Mr, Booth stepped into the top job after two senior executives, CEO Peter Lawless and Chief Commercial Office Bill Cooper, left abruptly in the Autumn. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle also paid a surprise visit to Vancouver a fortnight ago to meet Invictus staff, appearing at an ice hockey game with local dignitaries shortly after Nick was appointed.

An insider told MailOnline: ‘Nick Booth is one of the Duke of Sussex’s right-hand men. He was instrumental in setting up Invictus with Harry and has been asked to shore up the 2025 games with just over a year to go.’

The whistleblower has said that morale amongst Vancouver-Whistler staff is now ‘at an all time low’. He said: ‘Nick used to work at the Royal Foundation before leaving and heading to Canada. Harry trusts him implicitly, but the changes have unsettled staff, especially after two such well-liked bosses left.’

Mr Booth, who also heads up a Canadian national charity called the True Patriot Love Foundation, ran The Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry between 2010 and 2017. He also helped initiate Harry’s creation of the Invictus Games for injured veterans.

Confirming Mr Booth as interim CEO, an Invictus spokesman told MailOnline: ‘Since the award of the bid for the 2025 Games, Nick has been advising the team, and this transition allowed for a continuity of vision and no disruption to the team working to deliver the Games… The entire team behind the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 is focused and diligently working to host an incredible Games in February 2025, welcoming up to 550 competitors from up to 25 Nations.’

[From The Daily Mail]

One of the things I clocked in Heart of Invictus is that Invictus is built to have a small footprint – it’s not the Olympics, where a host country has to invest billions to build an infrastructure to support the games, the athletes, the Olympic village and everything else. Invictus comes in and (for the most part) uses the infrastructure already on site. While I’m sure there are new wrinkles with the Vancouver-Whistler games simply because of the new adaptive sports being introduced, it’s important to understand that Canada would not have bid on the games if they were not prepared to support Invictus and if the infrastructure wasn’t already there. Still, I’m sure Harry feels better knowing that one of his old allies is now in charge.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.