Blame the jet lag. Prince Harry apparently let the ball drop during his whirlwind trip to Nigeria this weekend. That’s meant literally, as the Duke of Sussex participated in a volleyball match with a group of wounded soldiers, but lost by a notable four points.
As noted last month, Harry and wife Meghan Markle are currently on their first official international tour since stepping down from their royal duties in 2020. Though the couple are now living as quasi-private citizens with Netflix deals and jam lines, they have kept up their commitment to the Invictus Games, which Prince Harry founded while in his royal role, following his deployment in Afghanistan.
That includes regular attendance at the organization’s international competition for wounded and sick military personnel and veterans, as well as appearances at its ancillary and related events. The Games’ tenth anniversary even brought Harry back to the U.K. earlier this month, despite the ongoing rift between his father, King Charles, and his brother, Prince William.
The games have also spurred a 72-hour tour of Games-related events, a trip first requested by Nigerian officials. “The visit is to consolidate Nigeria’s stronghold at the game and the possibility of hosting the event in later years,” Nigeria’s acting director of defense information, Tukur Gusau, said via statement. It’s a move that might be met with favor by Invictus’s patron, who said last year, “I’m not saying we play favorites in our home, but since my wife discovered that she’s of Nigerian descent, it’s likely to get a little bit competitive” when it comes to which teams his family backs at the annual Games.
Those ties to Nigeria didn’t help Harry when he hit the volleyball court, though. According to the BBC, Harry took the court with Nigeria Unconquered, an Abuja-based charity for sick and wounded service members that partners with the Invictus Foundation to provide specialized sports rehab facilities and adaptive sports programs.
Harry and Meghan took in a number of those programs on Saturday, including a seated volleyball match at an outdoor court. Initially, the couple were mere spectators, but then Harry was invited to join in. The team he joined was quickly redubbed “Team Harry,” which faced off against a group of the country’s Chief of Defense staff members, known as “Team CDS.”
Though the Daily Mail reports that Harry participated in a team huddle and a “motivational high five,” his lack of experience was apparently too great to overcome on the court. His team lost 21-25.
The competition appeared friendly, with the match ending in “smiles and hugs all round,” the Mail reports. Following the game, Harry joined “in the team’s war cry before speaking with families and friends of the athletes,” the BBC notes, then attended a reception at which Harry spoke about some of the things the couple saw during the first day of the trip, including a visit to a military rehabilitation center in Kaduna.
The royal also met with 50 wounded service personnel and said, “There were two of the 50 that were a little different.”
“They had smiles on faces. One of them was doing push-ups. I was intrigued … They knew their life wasn’t defined from the injuries of their past. That is what Invictus is all about.”
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