South Australian veteran Ben Yeomans asks Prince Harry to sign his budgie smugglers
WHEN South Aussie vet and Invictus athlete Ben Yeomans asked Prince Harry to sign a pair of budgie smugglers, he wound up wearing them on his head instead.
National
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PRINCE Harry has revealed that pregnancy is “taking its toll” on his wife as Meghan Markle took a break from their royal tour on Sunday.
The Duchess of Sussex is not suffering from morning sickness but she has been very tired and Kensington Palace announced that the couple had decided she would cut back on some engagements.
Her husband went solo on Sunday morning, presenting medals to winners of the Invictus Games’ gruelling Hand Bike event while Meghan took a break from the busy schedule and rested at Admiralty House. He told some of the Invictus athletes that she was resting because “being pregnant takes its toll”.
When she joined him for their luncheon engagement at The Pavilion restaurant in The Domain with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, veterans and families, Prince Harry was more solicitous than normal, lovingly rubbing her back.
“After a busy program, The Duke and Duchess have decided to cut back The Duchess’s schedule slightly for the next couple of days, ahead of the final week and a half of the tour,” a Kensington Palace spokesman said.
After Sunday’s opening ceremony at the Opera House, the games moved into their second day with The Domain taken over for the cycling events.
The prince posed for pictures and laughed with the winners as Aussie veteran mates Ben Yeomans, Damien Irish and Jarrod Kent tried to get him to sign a pair of budgie smugglers.
A South Australian, Yeomans donned the pair at Prince Harry’s suggestion after asking him to sign them.
“He wanted me to put it on my head so I tried it on,” Mr Yeomans said, adding Harry politely declined to autograph the official team swimwear.
“He had a chuckle about it, he’s really down to earth,” Mr Yeomans said.
The 28-year-old, who served three years in Infantry Corps before he was medically discharged in 2014 with a traumatic brain injury, is competing in athletics and indoor rowing at the Games.
Fellow athlete Jarrod Kent, 34, who served in East Timor, said Prince Harry was just like “one of the boys”.
“He’s been there, he’s done it, he’s experienced everything that we’ve all been through as well,” Mr Kent said.
Australian Army veteran Jeff Wright, 50, who fought in East Timor, said it was important for veterans to meet with Prince Harry during the Invictus Games — which the royal established four years ago.
The royal couple head to Queensland on Monday to visit Fraser Island. Meghan is still due to fly to Fiji and Tonga.
