Prince Harry was seen warmly embracing British athletes and competitors as he handed out medals following a swimming event at the the Invictus Games.
The Duke of Sussex, 37, affectionately hugged gold medallist Rachel Williamson and silver medallist Sally Renard on the fourth day of the Paralympic-style event he set up for wounded service personnel.
Harry, who remains in The Hague after wife Meghan, 40, flew back to California to join children Archie and Lilibet, was seen beaming with Team United Kingdom before presenting their accolades.
The royal, who spent playing table tennis and virtual golf with athletes, was also spotted heartily embracing an Australian competitor at Zuiderpark.
Prince Harry was seen warmly embracing British athletes and competitors as he handed out medals following a swimming event at the the Invictus Games
Harry, 37, who remains in The Hague after wife Meghan flew back to California was seen beaming with Team United Kingdom before presenting their accolades
RAF veteran Williamson competed in the Invictus Games in Sydney 2018 and is this year’s Team UK Captain while former RAF corporal Renard was selected for the games for this first time this year since her injury whilst on tour in Afghanistan.
Harry’s appearance this evening comes after the news that the Duke has given a sit-down interview to NBC’s Today show presenter Hoda Kotb while in the Netherlands.
The programme claimed Harry will speak about the Invictus Games, his surprise and supposedly secret visit with the Queen last week and his life with wife Meghan.
Putting a positive spin on his meeting, the Duke told the BBC yesterday that ‘it was great to see her’ during a quick stop-off before his arrival in the Netherlands for the competition.
Harry was seen dolling out hugs as he presented medals at the swimming competition during day four of the Invictus Games
The Duke of Sussex was also spotted heartily embracing an Australian competitor at Zuiderpark
He said his grandmother ‘had plenty of messages for Team UK’ and would have ‘loved to be here if she could’.
The chat will be previewed on NBC Nightly News tonight, which airs at 11.30pm UK time (6.30pm Eastern Time, in New York) – and then shown in full tomorrow on the Today programme from 12pm UK time (7am Eastern Time).
The interview comes only a year after his infamous interview to Oprah Winfrey on CBS in which he and Meghan accused unnamed royals of racism.
The Duke has a deeply strained relationship with his family – especially his father Prince Charles and brother Prince William – and missed last month’s memorial service at Westminster Abbey for his grandfather Prince Philip.
Royal aides will be concerned about details from a private meeting being divulged, which come on top of fears over what could be contained in his forthcoming memoirs and Netflix documenting his every move at the Games.
Prince Harry gives out medals at the swimming competition during day four of the Invictus Games The Hague 2020 at Zuiderpark
The Duke was seen affectionately hugging various competitors on day four of the Invictus Games at Het Hofbad the Hague, Netherlands
The Duke has already been accused in recent days of using his platform at the Games to promote BetterUp, the California mental health start-up for whom he is ‘chief impact officer’ – after the two announced a partnership.
Meanwhile, the Duke revealed that his youngest child Lilibet, 10 months, has ‘taken her first steps’ and is ‘trying to keep up with her big brother Archie’.
In an interview with People magazine, Harry said he ‘can’t wait’ to take his children to the Invictus Games in the future and that Archie, who turns three next month, wants to follow in his footsteps to become a helicopter pilot.
Harry added he’s a ‘proud papa’ and that little Archie ‘loved’ videos of wheelchair basketball and rugby that he showed him from the Invictus Games in Sydney in 2018.
Prince Harry heartily hugs one of the winners during the medal ceremony of a swimming event at the Invictus Games
The Duke of Sussex hugs Team United Kingdom competitor Lisa Johnston during the swimming at the Invictus Games at Zuiderpark the Hague
‘I showed him how some were missing legs and explained that some had invisible injuries, too,’ he said. ‘Not because he asked, but because I wanted to tell him. Kids understand so much, and to see it through his eyes was amazing because it’s so unfiltered and honest.’
He added the the US tabloid: ‘When I talk to my son Archie about what he wants to be when he grows up, some days it’s an astronaut, other days it’s a pilot — a helicopter pilot obviously — or Kwazii from Octonauts,’ referring to a daredevil cat from a children’s cartoon.
‘But what I remind him is that no matter what you want to be when you grow up, it’s your character that matters most, and nothing would make his mum and me prouder than to see him have the character of what we see before us today,’ he said
Earlier this week, the Duke of Sussex spoke of his drive to ‘make the world a better place’ for his children and said that people ‘shouldn’t bring children into the world’ unless they’re willing to improve it for them.
The Duke of Sussex hugs a medalist at the swimming competition during day four of the Invictus Games
The Duke of Sussex was seen warmly embracing an Australian competitor at the Invictus Games this evening
The Duke of Sussex hugs gold medallist Rachel Williamson and silver medallist Sally Renard on day four of the Invictus Games
Speaking with the Netherlands ‘ Kindercorrespondent reporters during the Invictus Games at The Hague, Harry said he wanted his two young children to grow up ‘in a fairer world, a safer world, a more equal world’.
‘It’s not going to be easy but I will never, ever, ever rest until I have as a parent at least tried to make the world a better place for them because it is our responsibility that the world is the way it is now,’ the Duke told the child reporters, aged 11 and 12.
‘I don’t think that we should be bringing children into the world unless we’re going to make that commitment to make it better for them. We cannot steal your future.’
Harry affectionately hugged British competitors on day four of his Paralympic-style event this evening
The Duke of Sussex gives out medals at the swimming competition during day four of the Invictus Games
Prince Harry gives a hug to a participant during the swimming event on the fourth day of the Invictus in The Hague
Earlier in the week Harry and Meghan embraced hug Lisa Johnston, a former army medic and amputee who got a medal
Dave Henderson,Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the Athletics Competion during day two of the Invictus Game
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