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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle appeared at the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games and they hilariously included their baby boy Archie, 2, in their speech. During the proceedings at The Hague, the Netherlands on Saturday, April 16, Harry, who was a helicopter pilot in the British armed services, joked about his son’s career aspirations, telling the crowd that Archie “obviously” wants to follow in his father’s footsteps as an aviator.
“To be role models, or the role models that each of you are, takes strength and it takes courage,” Harry began his address to the crowd of injured veterans participating in the sporting tournament. “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,” he quipped, before adding, “If you’re laughing, then you’ve seen that.”
Harry continued, “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.”
Meghan, who also shares 10-month-old daughter Lilibet with Harry, took the stage before her husband to greet the attendees and gush about Harry, who founded the Invictus Games in 2014. “He has spent many late nights and early mornings planning for these games to make them as perfect as possible for each of you,” she began. “I could not love and respect him more and I know many of you feel the same because he is your fellow veteran having served two tours of Afghanistan, and ten years of military service.”
In another rare public outing a day before, Harry and Meghan also attended a special reception for the Invictus Games. The trip marks the first time the couple have been back to Europe since they quit the royal family in 2020. The day before, they even stopped at Buckingham Palace to say hello to Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.
Prince Harry was inspired to organize the Games after he attended the 2013 Warrior Games in the United States, a competition held for wounded American veterans. The son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana undoubtedly holds the tournament close to his heart, as he is a combat veteran himself, who rose to the rank of Captain. The Games are scheduled from April 16 through April 22.