Mystery ensues as Meghan Markle’s key role in Invictus Games closing ceremony disappears from media schedule
7 September 2023, 14:27 | Updated: 7 September 2023, 15:23
Meghan Markle’s planned role in Prince Harry’s Invictus Games has been removed from the media schedule leaving some puzzled.
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Meghan Markle was set to ‘take to the stage’ for the closing ceremony of her husband’s Invictus Games to host a segment about the competitors, according to the event’s official guide.
But now a new separate listing on the website has removed all mentions of the Duchess of Sussex in a move that has left many puzzled about the role she will take on at the games.
On a new ‘detailed schedule’ listed on the website, presenter Hadnet Tesfai is noted down as the duchess' replacement for the closing ceremony.
The original passage on the media schedule, which has since been deleted, said that Meghan would “take to the stage to host the intimate and moving glimpse into the extraordinary journeys of the Invictus Games competitors”.
But it now seems this passage was uploaded in error, sources told the Daily Mail.
It follows the launch of Prince Harry’s five-part docuseries about the Invictus Games on Netflix last month.
Meghan Markle appears in the five-party documentary series, although only in a brief number of scenes.
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The games are an adaptive sports competition launched by Harry in 2014 for injured service personnel and veterans.
Harry is set to fly to Dusseldorf on Saturday for the games from the UK - it will follow his brief trip to the UK for the annual WellChild awards, a charity he has been a patron of for 15 years.
His flight to Germany will also fall the day after the first anniversary of the Queen’s death on Friday.
Harry’s arrival in Germany is expected to coincide with a demonstration at Dusseldorf town hall, with activists claiming that the Invictus Games will be be used by the German military to recruit students to the armed forces.
A spokesman for the Invictus Games said that one of the games' “aims is to stimulate social discourse on the topics of the military and foreign missions”, adding that “there are – at no time – elements of recruitment for the Bundeswehr”.
