Prince Harry and Meghan meet Invictus Games athletes
Prince Harry and Meghan caught up with old mates and made a few new ones in Sydney. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex looked delighted to be sharing the spotlight with the other stars of the royals’ visit, the Invictus Games athletes today.
Confidential
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- Royal couple’s Aussie love affair
- Harry, Meghan open Anzac memorial
- Royals open Invictus Games in Sydney
PRINCE Harry and Meghan caught up with old mates and made a few new ones in Sydney.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex looked delighted to be sharing the spotlight with the other stars of the royals’ visit, the Invictus Games athletes.
After presenting the first medals this morning, they joined Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his daughters Lily and Abbey to meet competitors, their families and friends old and new at a reception at the Pavilion restaurant in Sydney’s The Domain.
The prince spotted a familiar face in the crowd and asked powerlifter Tyronne Gawthorne, 36, if he had a new tattoo since last year’s Invictus Games when they met in Toronto.
The former infantry soldier lifted up his shirt and showed Prince Harry the new tatt on his back.
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“He wanted to see if I had any new ones. I told him it is a traditional Samoan tattoo,” said the veteran of East Timor and Afghanistan who suffers PTSD.
The royal couple stopped to chat to Orange Sky Laundry founders Lucas Matchett, 24, and Nicholas Marchesi, 24, who they had met last week at Admiralty House.
“He asked us if we would do their laundry, just joking,” Lucas said.
The duo whose laundry vans do the washing for the homeless discussed how they hope to set up in the UK soon.
“We met them on Tuesday,” Nicholas said.
“I was just blown away with how down to earth they were. Meghan remembered us and our work and they were very supportive.”
Prince Harry kept loving rubbing his wife’s back as they moved through the crowd. He was dressed casually in a grey jacket and blue shirt while Meghan sported a black turtleneck jumper by Australian company Wolford, tight black jeans by Outland and a blazer by L’agence.
Among their new friends was Angel the special needs dog and the children from the Kookaburra Kids Foundation who gave the couple two stuffed kookaburra toys for their baby.
“Harry asked us which of our parents are in the military so we put our hands up,” Lincoln, 8, who was with his brothers Lachlan, 10, and Charlie, 6, said.
“I said our mum’s in the military. I don’t know what she does but she is a major.”
Brother Lachlan made the royals laugh.
“I said my teacher says she loves you. She is a royal fan. They laughed,” he said.
Among the crowd was burns survivor Turia Pitt and transgender trailblazer Georgie Stone.
“I said thank you for the Invictus Games, the message of unity, connectivity and being the best person you can be which is really inspiring to me as a transgender young person,” Georgie, 18, said.
The couple was led into the restaurant by didgeridoo performer Russell Dawson.
They renewed their friendship with the Endeavour Clontarf Academy, whose Dubbo headquarters they visited last week and met members of the Australian Air Force cadets.
TV personality Jessica Rowe was starstruck herself.
An ambassador for the Kookaburra Kids, which supports children living in families affected by mental health, admitted she was very excited to meet Harry and Meghan.
“They are wonderful. I just said hello your royal highness to Meghan.
“I said it is such an honour to meet you, you are such a role model for women and she said thank you,” she said.
The couple of dog lovers couldn’t resist Italian sheepdog Angel, who was accompanying her owner Christinne Patton, 65.
“She got the royal pat,” Christinne, who needs Angel to alert her when she suffers a medical episode, said.
“They both patted her and Harry said he liked it when she crossed her paws as she lay down. Then Angel saw a fly and tried to catch it and Meghan said she found that very funny.”
The Endeavour Clontarf Academy at Caringbah is part of the nationwide Clontarf Foundation that has changed the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boys through improving their education, life skills and self-esteem by harnessing their passion for AFL and rugby league.
Earlier, Prince Harry met with veteran athletes in Sydney and was presented with an icon of the Australian beach — a pair of budgie smugglers.
The Duke of Sussex was at The Domain for a medal presentation at the Invictus Games when Australian veteran Benjamin Yeomans, 28, seized the chance and tried to get his pair of togs signed.
But the prince politely declined — perhaps conscious of more than a dozen international camera crews eagerly watching only metres away.
“It was good, he had a chuckle about it, he’s really down to earth,” Mr Yeomans said after meeting the prince.
“He wanted me to put it on my head so I tried it on. We presented a pair this morning to him.
“We just thought we’d let him know there’s more around.
“It’s phenomenal, to have someone of his stature here — he’s as down to earth as can be.”
Fellow athlete Jarrod Kent, 34, who served in East Timor, also got to meet Prince Harry and said he was just like “one of the boys”.
“He was so down to earth — one of the boys really,” he said.
“He’s been there, he’s done it, he’s experienced everything that we’ve all been through as well.”
Mr Kent said Prince Harry said “he’d already received a pair” when presented with the budgie smugglers.
“He was totally conscious (of the cameras),” Mr Kent said.
“He was just conscious of who was going to start taking shots.”
Prince Harry’s wife Meghan was a no show at The Domain even though she was scheduled to appear.
There are reports the pregnant duchess will scale back her public engagements after becoming worn down during the gruelling schedule of the royal tour.
Australian army veteran Jeff Wright, 50, who fought in East Timor and is now wheelchair bound, said it was important for veterans to meet with Prince Harry during the Invictus Games.
“Looking at it now, four years on, you can see that it’s a success,” he said.
“Prince Harry is a great bloke and we are all indebted to his vision and his commitment to the cause. He’s a great man. It’s important for different reasons for different people … this might open opportunities for people to do adaptive sport, because it’s a healing thing.”
Founded by Prince Harry, the Invictus Games is an international sporting event for wounded and ill veterans across the world and is currently being held in Sydney.