Prince Harry meets competitors from the Wheelchair Rugby finals at last year’s Invictus Games. Photo / Getty Images
The Duke of Sussex is planning to invite the King to the Invictus Games, and could even ask the monarch to open the event.
In what could be a reunifying moment for father and son, the King and his family will be offered formal invitations to the Games in 2027, organised by the Duke’s foundation, which has said it would “very much welcome” the presence of the royal family.
The Duke is reported to want his father not only to attend but take part in the opening ceremony at the sporting event for wounded and injured military service personnel, both serving and veterans.
The Sun claimed that an on-stage reconciliation for father and son would “fulfil a dream” for the Duke, who “desperately wants his father to be at Invictus”, according to an unnamed source.
The report will place further pressure on the King to attend the Games in support of his younger son, who has left the working royal family and now lives in the United States.
The pair spoke last year during a 54-minute meeting at Clarence House. The Duke and his brother the Prince of Wales are not known to have reconciled since the younger sibling’s public criticism of his family via interviews, a documentary and his memoir.
No invitations to the Invictus Games have been issued yet, with the event still 18 months away.
The Duke is expected to travel to the United Kingdom later this year to attend a “one year to go” event in Birmingham, as he has done for previous Invictus Games.
The King, the Queen and the Prince of Wales attended the inaugural Games in London in 2014. Invictus was created with the support of the Royal Foundation when the Duke was a working member of the royal family.
The King and the Prince have not attended since 2014, with sources pointing out that members of the royal family do not customarily show up to each other’s working events.
The King and Queen have never attended the Prince of Wales’ Earthshot Prize or the Princess of Wales’ annual carol concert.
The then Meghan Markle made her first public appearance with the Duke at the Toronto Games in 2017.
The Duke did invite the King to a 10-year anniversary service for the Games held at St Paul’s Cathedral in 2024. The King could not attend, and hosted a pre-arranged Buckingham Palace garden party for members of the public at the same time.
Next year, the Invictus Games will be held in Birmingham from July 10-17, which will be the Queen’s 80th birthday.
A spokesman for the Invictus Games Foundation said: “The royal family have been longstanding supporters of the Invictus Games since its inception in 2014, with the Duke of Sussex as the Founding Patron of the Invictus Games Foundation.
”While it is too early to confirm who will attend in 2027 as invitations have not yet been sent out, organisers of the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027 will issue invitations to members of the royal family in due course, and we would very much welcome their presence.”
The Sun quoted an unnamed source as saying: “Prince Harry desperately wants Charles at Invictus – and he wants him to open the Games alongside him.
“Harry wants it to happen both for the Games, and for their relationship. It’s his dream to have his father by his side.”
It has previously been reported that Buckingham Palace has been made aware of the Invictus dates in order to “maximise” the chance of the King attending.
The gesture has been described as an “olive branch” from the Duke.
In September 2023, one source at the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, Germany, told the Telegraph that they felt there could have been more support for the Games from the royal family. The palace “ends up looking mean-spirited and petty” they said at the time.
The King is understood to welcome a relationship with his grandchildren Prince Archie, who was born in Britain but left with his parents in 2019, and Princess Lilibet, whom Charles has met only once.
The Duke will attend the Invictus Games in 2027, despite his fears over security in Britain. He is awaiting a decision over his future arrangement.
He has signalled that he will not bring his wife and children to his homeland, including for Invictus, until he is happy with guaranteed security provision.
“I think that it’s really quite sad that I won’t be able to show my children my homeland,” he said last year.
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