The Invictus Games officially begin today, but Prince Harry (King Dirty Ginger Snap) has already been in Florida for days. On Friday and Saturday, Harry was participating in the welcoming events, holding babies, kissing puppies, shaking hands with veterans and generally being lovely and adorable. Interestingly enough, I think Poor Jason (the PR guy for the Cambridges and Harry) is with Harry in Florida. Just before Jason released a slew of lovely Harry photos, the KensingtonRoyal Twitter released some information about upcoming events involving Prince William. Because of course Harry can’t just have a moment. Speaking of Harry’s moment, I loved this story from People Magazine:
Over breakfast at the Warrior Games in Colorado in 2013, Prince Harry turned to friend David Wiseman and said: “We’re going to bring this idea back to the U.K. and make it massive.”
Now, two years on from the first Paralympic-style Invictus Games in London, the excitement is building for second event, which will kick off in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday. “It’s going to be such a fantastic atmosphere which the athletes will draw from,” U.K team captain Wiseman says.
While Harry’s hopes for the UK version were big “if he had said there would be the First Lady and former President Bush at a games in Orlando a few years later I would have said ‘wow,’ ” Wiseman adds. “The world is watching this and hopefully lots of people can drawn inspiration from the amazing men and women competing in sport here. There’s going to be a lot of razzmataz.”
Wiseman, who qualified for four swimming races in preliminary races on Saturday, was speaking to reporters after Harry had visited the swimming pool. “He has been knocking around for the last couple of days. He has a good, natural affinity with the veterans and service personnel. He belongs to that community and he can just rock up and whoever you are can stand here having a chat with the competitors. It’s natural, it’s genuine.”
