Last year, Meghan Markle played a game of ping pong with Prince Harry in a video promoting the 2023 Invictus Games in Düsseldorf. Now, a spokesperson for the couple has confirmed that the duchess will be joining her husband in the German city for the games, which begin on September 9 and run through September 16.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are delighted to attend the Invictus Games 2023 in Düsseldorf,” a statement read, per People. “The Duke will be in attendance throughout the entirety of the games and will be joined by the Duchess shortly after the games begin.”
Before the games begin, Prince Harry will be attending the WellChild Awards in the UK on September 7. According to the charity, which supports children with disabilities and their charities, Harry will be on hand to give awards to this year’s winners. WellChild has counted Harry as their patron since 2007. Though Meghan has joined the duke at the annual awards ceremony in the past, Page Six reports that she will miss this year’s event due to previous commitments with the couple’s children Archie and Lilibet.
This year’s Invictus Games will be the sixth iteration of the event, following 2022’s games in The Hague. During the commencement event, Meghan introduced her husband before he gave a speech that touched on his experiences as a father and the resilience of the competitors from Ukraine, just a few months after the country was invaded by Russia.
In an interview at the time, Prince Harry told People about how his experience in the military inspired him to create the games in 2014. “When I was in the Army, I promised myself I would be out before having a wife and kids, because I couldn’t imagine the heartache of being apart for so long during deployment, the risk of possibly getting injured, and the reality that my family’s lives could be changed forever if that happened,” he said. “Every member of the Invictus community has experienced varying degrees of these things. I have tremendous respect for what they and their families sacrifice in the name of service.”
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