Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will attend the 2020 Invictus Games in The Netherlands, beginning on April 16. The couple, who have mostly refused to visit the British royal family for the past two years, have not announced plans to visit the frail and elderly Queen Elizabeth II, Harry’s grandmother. However, Harry and Meghan are planning on bringing Netflix along to capture every moment of their time at the games.
It’s clear that for the foreseeable future, the couple are driven by one single thing: money. And, sadly, it’s at the expense of the Game and the veterans.
When the Invictus Games debuted in 2014, there was a swell of support for Prince Harry’s efforts to bring together veterans from across the world to engage in a series of friendly competitions, similar to the Olympics or Paralympics. It then moved to Orlando for 2016, where the press and public interest in the Games increased.
But by the 2017 Toronto Games, things had changed.
Harry made the decision to show his girlfriend, Meghan, to the world at the Games, taking attention away from the soldiers and to the newly minted couple. They were engaged months later.
By 2018, in Australia, Harry was reportedly hardly involved in the Games, and only showed up for the opening and closing ceremonies, as a tour of the Pacific was scheduled for the new couple at the same time. It’s unclear who made that decision, but it was probably a mistake.
The focus shifted from the veterans to Harry and Meghan, and this trend will now continue and grow.
For the couple, the 2020 Games in The Hague is no longer about celebrating veterans but about how they can monetize the Invictus Games to enrich themselves.
Now, as the founder, Harry should attend and promote the Games—however, he’s doing so with his wife and a Netflix crew in tow to capture every moment. It’s no longer about altruism and really making a difference in the lives of veterans, but making sure the couple have some way to shore up their failing finances.
That diminishes Harry’s supposed mission.
When it comes to his family, it also looks especially bad.
Harry and Meghan are perfectly willing to travel to Europe and attend the Games, but are refusing to visit the UK and his elderly grandmother due to alleged “security concerns.” It’s important to note that while the Invictus Games will make them money, visiting his family will probably not boost their bank account.
So, it raises the question, is Harry attending and continuing the Invictus Games because he wants to or because it makes him money? Is he now taking a salary from the Games? Will the couple change the games to help them make more money?
Like anything, putting on something like the Invictus Games costs money, but everything should go back into the next one instead of into the coffers of Harry and Meghan.
Hopefully, the couple bring their children and take the less than one hour flight back to the UK to visit his family. If they don’t, Harry and Meghan are in danger of growing their reputation as callous and greedy individuals motivated solely by money.