Despite his enthusiasm for the 2027 Birmingham Invictus Games, Prince Harry has been urged to step down in an unexpected development.
Royal commentators have advised the Duke of Sussex to quit the Games following claims that he is using “public pressure” to encourage King Charles to make a joint appearance at the 2027 event in the UK.
On the latest episode of Palace Confidential, royal experts Richard Eden and Richard Kay responded to a column in the Mail this week by their colleague Amanda Platell.
Platell argued the British monarch should refuse his estranged son Harry’s request after details of the invitation appeared in the press.
Reacting to it, Eden suggested the invitation had been planted by the Duke’s PR team, in the hope it would push the King into making an appearance.
In evidence of this claim, Eden pointed to another expert Charlotte Griffiths, who said last year she was fed favourable stories by the Sussexes’ advisers.
He argued the controversy already surrounding an event still eleven months away was reason enough for Meghan’s husband to consider quitting the Games.
‘Pressure is always put on the King and Queen,’ Eden said.
The expert went on, “We saw this in the run-up to Harry and Meghan’s visit to Britain, didn’t we? We had three weeks of speculation, all about the security and whether they would bring the children. It all seems like public pressure and it’s really not the way the royal family has traditionally operated.”
The commentator explained the reason why it would build a pressure on the cancer-hit King, adding: “You would expect an invitation like this to go out behind the scenes, and that it all would be done in private. This kind of public pressure is awful really.”
He continued defending Amanda Platell, saying: “He certainly feels strongly about. Her view was that the King would be giving in, but the problem is you do not want to see the Invictus Games turned into some sort of personal football.
The expert advised: ‘Personally, I would like to see Harry step down from it, to distance himself from Invictus. It would get rid of that controversial element and the Games would prosper as a result.’
Veteran royal correspondent Richard Kay agreed the invitation may have been deliberately fed to the press.
He noted how ‘unusual’ it was for an engagement to surface so far in advance, pointing out that royal diaries are set at six-monthly intervals.
Kay argued: “It does feel like Harry is trying to bounce his father into something ahead of time… it’s entirely possible that Harry sees enemies among Charles’s staff, the people who run his diary and look after him.
“I am certain the King will want to go along anyway to support it. One of the things the royal family likes to be identified with more than any other, I would argue, is their support for the armed forces.”
The expert said, “Invictus is a feather in Harry’s cap, without a doubt. But, if it is being used just to promote himself, that would grate a bit.”
The next Games run in Birmingham from 10 to 17 July 2027, the first time the event has returned to Britain since its London debut in 2014.
2026-08-07 21:17:00
