Harry: Our personal baby joy
Prince looked so nervous before speech his stress monitoring ring must have gone off the scale!
TO rapturous cheering, the Duke of Sussex yesterday spoke of his pride in his wife and their ‘personal joy’ at the news she is expecting a baby.
It was the first time that Prince Harry had addressed the subject so publicly, and before he spoke to the multitude gathered before Sydney Opera House, he seemed nervous.
And who could really blame him? For one thing he’s a first-time expectant father and, for another, this was the high point of the 16-day Royal tour of Australasia and the opening of his beloved Invictus Games for service personnel.
His pounding heart – which would have been monitored by the £275 Oura ‘smart’ ring he was spotted wearing on his right hand – was probably not calmed by the violent thunderstorm that, for a while, threatened to prevent the opening ceremony happening at all.
His neck muscles tensed, he ground his teeth and, just before he took the stage, his shoulders rose and he exhaled deeply.
Yet when he began to speak, after an eclectic opening ceremony featuring Scottish pipers and didgeridoos, the anxiety seemed to drain away. The crowd cooed over his every word.
Provoking wild applause, he said he was ‘so proud’ to introduce his wife to Australia. The baby reference drew a louder response still.
‘We have been so happy to celebrate the personal joy of our newest addition with you all,’ he said.
He noted that it was ‘45 years to the day’ since the Queen opened the Opera House. It was ‘his honour’ to be standing in the same position in this ‘modern world’.
The Prince has spoken often about his desire to modernise the Monarchy and as he stood in his grandmother’s footsteps, formalities were swept aside as he spoke tenderly of his ‘ Invictus family’ and his Army experiences that had formed the basis of the Games.
Harry, who served in the Army for ten years, founded the Games in 2014 with the aim of helping wounded service personnel and veterans with their physical and psychological rehabilitation.
At times yesterday, he teetered on the political – hinting that govern- ments have not always given injured servicemen and women the support they need and deserve.
‘If we’re being honest, we know that in many nations, the place of our men and women in uniform became too often undervalued in the decades after the Second World War,’ he said. ‘The sacrifice and character of our troops never changed, but society’s recognition of them too often wavered.’
Earlier Meghan beamed as a succession of speakers praised her husband’s work with the Games.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison asked t he cheering crowd: ‘How good is Prince Harry?’ He called him ‘a veteran, a man who understands what it means to serve and honour, to sacrifice and to show love and compassion.’
And above the din he added: ‘And we love you too, Meghan.’
Last night, palace aides said the couple were ‘overwhelmed’ by the reaction they have received.
This week they will visit Fiji and Tonga before flying back to Sydney for the Games’ closing ceremony.