Archie wants to be an astronaut or a pilot, says Harry
TWO days after meeting Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles at Windsor, Harry and Meghan focused on family last night as they spoke at the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games.
In a personal address, Harry spoke of his dreams for his two-year-old son and the inspiration he took from the injured veterans who compete at the event he created. ‘To be role models, or the role models, that each of you are takes strength and it takes courage,’ he said. ‘When I talk to my son Archie about what he wants to be when he grows up, some days it’s an astronaut, other days it’s a pilot – a helicopter pilot, obviously. Or Kwazii from Octonauts – if you’re laughing then you’ve seen that.
‘But what I remind him is that, no matter what you want to be when you grow up, it’s your character that matters most, and nothing would make his mum and me prouder than to see him have the character of what we see before us today.’
Harry paid tribute to the Ukrainian team at the Games as did Meghan, who introduced her ‘incredible husband’ as ‘the founder of the Invictus games and the father of our two little ones, Archie and Lilibet’.
She added: ‘I could not love and respect him more, and I know you all feel the same.’ The ceremony began with the arrival of 17 national teams, parading to music from the Dutch Royal Military Band. None received a warmer welcome than Team Ukraine. Earlier, Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, took part in the Land Rover Driving Challenge, where they rode in two mini Land Rovers driven by children.
Harry pumped his fists as Scarlett Vroegop, the four-year-old daughter of a Dutch competitor, took him on a lap of the course. Meghan waved as she was driven by four-year-old Mya Poirot, the daughter of a French competitor. The antics were captured by a camera crew from Netflix. The couple have a multi-millionpound deal with the streaming giant and are making a documentary about the games. There is speculation that it could feature footage from the couple’s visit to Britain, when they met Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. In addition to the Netflix crew and private security guards, Harry and Meghan travelled to the Netherlands with an entourage including New York make-up artist Daniel Martin, celebrity hairdresser George Northwood, James Holt, director of their Archewell Foundation and at least three PR staff.
Meghan is expected to give a reading from her children’s book The Bench today before returning to California tomorrow. Her husband is understood to be staying until the games end on Friday.