TORONTO (AP) – Prince Harry’s girlfriend, American actress Meghan Markle, is sitting in the stands for Saturday’s opening ceremony of Prince Harry’s Invictus Games for wounded veterans.
Markle lives in Toronto, but hadn’t appeared with Harry since he arrived in the city. She recently told Vanity Fair they’re in love.
They were not sitting together in the stands of the Air Canada Centre. They were about four rows apart. A security guard blocked at least one fan from taking pictures of Markle, who sat with an unidentified man.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomes United States first lady Melania Trump prior to the opening ceremonies of the Invictus Games in Toronto on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
She was wearing a plum-colored leather jacket over a dress.
The Invictus Games are the creation of Prince Harry, who got the inspiration to help wounded and sick military personnel and their families after his two tours of duty in Afghanistan. This is the third Invictus Games.
About 550 competitors from 17 countries are slated to compete in 12 sports over the next week. Bruce Springsteen and Bryan Adams will perform at the closing ceremony next Saturday.
U.S. Master Sgt. Brian Williams, who had his left leg amputated at the knee because of an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2012, said Harry is living up to the legacy of his late mother Diana with his charity work.
“He’s following in his mother footsteps. Straight up,” Williams said.
Williams said he has a lot of respect for Harry, a former soldier who served in Afghanistan. “He doesn’t have to do this but he is,” he said.
Williams was working as a dog handler during his second deployment in Afghanistan when he was severely injured while clearing a Taliban compound. Despite his injuries he has worked hard to stay on active duty. He also competed in last year’s Invictus Games in Orlando and he’s taking part in wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball this year.
Canadian Melanie Harris is set to compete in bioarchery. Harris did two tours of duty in Afghanistan with the Canadian military. She would help carry bring in wounded soldiers to the medical facilities on base. She has since struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I was living without passion, without purpose. I needed to believe in myself again and I needed to be inspired. And these Invictus Games that’s what they did,” Harris said.
Britain’s Prince Harry, left, meets with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Toronto on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
Prince Harry greets a waiting crowd as he visits The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
Prince Harry attends a round table discussion on youth mental health as he visits The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
Britain’s Prince Harry, left, meets an athlete from the Denmark wheelchair basketball team during training in the lead-up to the Invictus Games, in Toronto on Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
First lady Melania Trump hugs a girl as she participates in an harvesting and planting event with the Boys and Girls Club of Washington in the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, Sept. 22, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
In this Friday, Sept. 22, 2017 photo, U.S. Master Sergeant Brian Williams poses for a photo at the Invictus Games, in Toronto. Williams, who’s left leg was amputated at the knee because of an IED explosion in Afghanistan in 2012, said Invictus founder Prince Harry is living up to the legacy of his late mother Diana with his charity work. (AP Photo/Rob Gillies)
Britain’s Prince Harry, left, meets with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Toronto on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
The daughter of a Team Netherlands competitor cries after her father was awarded a gold medal from Prince Harry in the Jaguar Land Rover Challenge at the Invictus Games in Toronto on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017. (Chris Donovan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Fans from Denmark cheer on their national team who received a bronze medal in the Jaguar Land Rover Challenge at the Invictus Games in Toronto on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017. (Chris Donovan/The Canadian Press via AP)
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