Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s plan to be part-time royals could have worked, a friend of the Duke has said, as his Invictus Games has proven.
The issue had been a sticking point in the deal between the Sussexes and the rest of the Firm when they were negotiating the terms for Harry and Meghan stepping down from their official royal roles in early 2020.
The couple had tried to argue their case for a hybrid model in which they would assume some royal duties, however this was shut down by the family, who stated they had to be fully in or completely out.
Harry has continued to hold his Invictus Games, which he founded in 2014, throughout the feud with his family, as the sporting tournament for injured and ill veterans goes from strength to strength.
A friend of Harry’s claimed this success is proof that a hybrid model could have worked, according to The Telegraph.
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The friend told the publication: “Invictus is so important to him [Harry] and is very much a part of his former life. It shows there could have been a world in which a hybrid model could have worked.
“But it also shows that in his new world, and in his new life, he’s still capable of accomplishing the things that are so very important to him.
“It [the Invictus Games] will enable him to remind people who he is, but also show them who he plans to be.”
Another friend of Harry’s added: “He’s nervous because he’s an empath. It’s also a huge undertaking. He’s also so excited and enthused.”
Harry’s latest project with Netflix, Heart of Invictus, was released on Netflix on August 30, and follows the 2020 Invictus Games, which took place in The Hague, Netherlands last year, following delays due to COVID-19.
The series focuses on the organisers and competitors in the Games and their experiences, while Harry also discusses his experiences with mental health after his service in Afghanistan.
He claims that there was no-one around him that could help at the time, as his time in active service triggered unresolved trauma following the death of his mother, Princess Diana.
Harry said: “The biggest struggle for me was that no one around me could really help. I did not have that support structure, that network or expert advice to identify what was actually going on with me.
“Unfortunately like most of us, the first time you consider therapy is when you are lying on the floor in the foetal position, probably wishing that you had dealt with some of this stuff previously. That is what I want to change.”
Harry and Meghan will be in Düsseldorf, Germany, in the next week for the 2023 Invictus Games.
