The Invictus Games, founded by Prince Harry, are undergoing major changes.
According to Camilla Tominey of The Telegraph, the Ministry of Defence has decided to end Help for Heroes’ long-standing relationship with the Games.
Along with the Royal British Legion, Help For Heroes played an important role in the selection, training, and development of Team UK. The MOD, on the other hand, has decided that the RBL will be solely responsible for those who participate.
Since Harry founded Invictus in 2014, the veterans’ charity has been involved with him.
The decision is thought to have been made by the MOD before Harry and Meghan Markle attended the Invictus Games in The Hague last month. The announcement was postponed, however, to avoid overshadowing the competition.
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“Help For Heroes is incredibly proud to have trained, supported, and delivered Team UK for the past five Invictus Games,” Lis Skeet, the services director of Help For Heroes, confirmed.
“However, the Ministry of Defence has decided that the Royal British Legion will lead the end-to-end delivery of Team UK to the Invictus Games for the next five years and will also be the main funder of the programme, following extensive discussions.”
“Unfortunately, we will no longer be involved directly in Invictus Team UK.”
“We want to emphasize that this was not a decision we made ourselves,” she continued. We know that the Games continue to play an important role in showcasing the abilities of wounded veterans. The MoD considered the Invictus UK partnership’s proposals and decided to proceed in this direction.
“As part of keeping our promise to be there for wounded veterans for as long as they need us, our focus now is on helping more people in their communities across the UK.” Of course, we’ll continue to support Team UK and are excited to see what the Invictus Games can accomplish in the future.”
It comes as Harry and Meghan prepare to return to the United Kingdom to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
“Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are excited and honoured to attend The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations this June with their children,” a spokeswoman for the couple said.
It will be the first visit to the UK by Harry and Meghan’s family since they left for the United States in 2020. The Duke had previously stated that he wished to return to his homeland but that he did not feel safe doing so due to his lack of security.
