Celebrity
Prince Harry Reflected On His First Public Outing With Meghan Markle
He admitted it was “a lot to take in.”
The Invictus Games hold a special place in Prince Harry’s heart — not just because he founded them in 2014. Created to foster athletic competition among wounded veterans and service members from around the world, the games have also seen Harry and Meghan Markle through several relationship milestones. Due to COVID postponements, this year’s event (held in the Netherlands) marks the first time Harry and Meghan are attending the game as parents and as former working royals. The event marks a big change from the couple’s first Invictus outing in 2017, which just so happened to be their first official appearance ever.
Harry reflected on the early days of their relationship in an interview with People, published April 19. The 2017 games, which took place in Toronto, “were our first time out and about publicly in an official way,” Harry told the magazine. “We were dating at the time, so it was a lot to take in, but fortunately, we were with the perfect community for that.”
The duke also acknowledged just how much has changed in his life since then. “Now, five years later, here we are in The Hague at the fifth Invictus Games, as parents of two, and living in the U.S.,” he said. “I had always wanted to share these incredible moments with someone special, and to have Meg by my side means everything.” Harry also said that “being a dad certainly adds another emotional layer” to being back at the games this time around.
Of course, the 2017 Invictus Games might have been the couple’s first on-the-books outing — but they were very much hanging out incognito before then. Harry and Meghan’s dating history includes everything from a secret supermarket trip to donning “very bizarre” costume disguises during a 2016 Halloween party, as the Suits alum revealed to Ellen DeGeneres last year.
