Prince Harry, Meghan visit Invictus Games competitors

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan on Friday made their first public appearance in Europe since they gave up formal royal roles and moved to the U.S. more than two years ago, greeting competitors at the Invictus Games.

The event came a day after the couple visited Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle, on their first joint visit to the U.K. since they moved to the U.S.

The couple’s office says they visited the 95-year-old queen, Harry’s grandmother, Thursday on their way to the Netherlands to attend the Invictus Games. Harry is a founder and patron of the international sports competition for wounded military personnel and veterans.

Harry and Meghan got an enthusiastic welcome from cheering competitors at the games site in a park in The Hague. The event opens Saturday and runs through April 22.

Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior working royals and moved to North America in 2020, citing the unbearable pressure of their roles and racist attitudes of the British media.

Since then Harry has made solo trips to the U.K. to attend the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip, in April 2021 and to unveil a statue of his late mother Princess Diana last July.

The couple lost their taxpayerfunded police guard when they walked away, and Harry is suing the British government for refusing to let him pay for his own police security on his visits to the U.K. His lawyers say Harry wants to bring his children — Archie, who is almost 3, and 10-month-old Lilibet — to visit his home country but that it is too risky without police protection.