What Invictus is really about
I HOPE Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, have a great time in Australia. But I’m not as excited as I thought I’d be about their first trip Down Under.
They may be photogenic and popular, but way too much fuss is made about them both. I’m more interested in what they’re here to do: attend the fourth Invictus Games, which Prince Harry founded in 2014.
The games bring together wounded, sick or injured armed service personnel from around the globe to compete in a range of sports such as wheelchair basketball, swimming and archery.
Much more impressive than the royal couple are the athletes competing at the games. Each of them has a story to tell, stories of extraordinary courage and sacrifice against the odds.
Take sniper team commander Garry Robinson, who had just finished fighting the brutal Battle of Shah Wali Kot in Kandahar when he was sent on one final mission. It was to be his last. Tragically, the Black Hawk helicopter he was travelling in crashed into a rocky outcrop and four soldiers died. Robinson survived, but was left with punctured lungs, a traumatic brain injury, fractures to his spine, ribs and shoulder blades and internal injuries to his lungs and spleen. His left leg was broken and later amputated. Robinson, a father of three from NSW, spent two years in hospital in recovery and rehabilitation. He credits the Invictus Games for giving him something to get out of bed and to strive for.
“Regardless of the results, I already feel like I have won,” Robinson says.
Like many of the athletes, he has an inspiring and amazing story to tell.
And yet the focus over the next two weeks is much more likely to be on the small issues that dominate royal coverage. Who’s dressing the duchess? How much did her outfit cost? Is her hair up or down? What’s the body language like between Meghan and Harry? Is she (gasp!) wear- ing bare legs instead of stockings?
I don’t mean to denigrate the royal couple. I think it’s nice they’re here and 76 public engagements in 16 days is pretty impressive. They’ll see the Opera House, go to the zoo, go to Bondi Beach, travel on a tram in Melbourne and go to Fraser Island, among other things. But it’s no more than most tourists manage and they’ll do it in first-class with a staff of ten meeting their every need.
I understand why there is such fascination for this young couple. These days, junior members of the British royal family are bona-fide celebrities and in our hero-worshipping culture, princes William and Harry are at the top of the pecking order.
Prince Harry is a young man who’s trying to use his status and power to do meaningful things, but he and Meghan are hardly the “most beloved couple in the world”. Nor did they have the “wedding of the century”.
They are not any better than any of the rest of us; it’s not like they’ve personally earned all this adulation and attention because of their achievements or skills. They’re only in the spotlight because Harry was lucky enough to be born into the British royal family and Meghan married Harry.
They may be famous, but they’re not that special. That explains the general reaction to Princess Eugenie’s wedding. Although she’s Prince Harry’s cousin, the reaction from most people seemed to be: Eugenie who?
So, let’s tone down some of the rhetoric.
I ask each of you to spare a thought over the next few weeks for the real heroes of this visit.
It’s not just Garry Robinson, it’s Corporal Sonya Newman who swam in her first Invictus Games just months after having her leg amputated above the knee. She’ll be competing in wheelchair basketball, indoor rowing, sitting volleyball and swimming.
And it’s Trudi Lines from Shepparton retired from the military after suffering injuries to her neck, lower back and ankle after deployment to Afghanistan.
She has PTSD and talks about the “invisible scars that you have that people just don’t understand”. She’ll be competing in indoor rowing and wheelchair rugby.
In my eyes they are the real heroes, not the likeable Royal Ranga and his new missus.