Prince Harry laughs as Invictus Games competitor questions his royal heritage

Prince Harry burst into laughter on Saturday when a competitor at the Invictus Games in Canada hilariously questioned his royal credentials. 

King Charles’s youngest son is the founder of the Invictus Games, an annual sporting event for wounded military veterans from over 20 nations. 

Harry, 40, was greeting an enthusiastic competitor in a Vancouver stadium on Sunday afternoon when the sportsman asked him if he was really a prince.

As fifth in line to the British throne, a smiling Harry replied that he was, which then provoked the competitor to ask: ‘Where is your crown?’

When he boldly asked the question, the giggling sportsman brought his hands to his head to indicate a crown, leaving Harry laughing hysterically.

The competitor then thanked the prince as the pair embraced in what was one of the most touching moments of the opening ceremony.

The exchange, which was caught on camera and posted online on X (formerly Twitter) by a supporter of Team Ukraine, charmed social media users and attracted more than 500 likes in under an hour.

Viewed more than 3,000 times, the clip equally drew a number of adoring comments. 

One person wrote: ‘The thing that strikes me watching this is how good and at ease he is with people.’

Another fan commented: ‘My god they love him so so much.’

While a third exclaimed: ‘He’s a prince but he should really be the KING’. 

The sweet exchange comes after Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, offered the perfect riposte to Donald Trump’s recent remarks about her relationship with the prince, offering a ‘breathless’ display that shows she’s adoring – and, crucially, adored –  at the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games.  

Body language expert Judi James, who analysed the couple’s interactions at the fanfare ceremony in Vancouver, said it was clear that the Duchess of Sussex was determined to put on a loved-up display. 

This week, the US president suggested he wouldn’t challenge Prince Harry about his immigration status, saying the royal had ‘enough problems with his wife’, wasping: ‘She’s terrible’. 

James told MailOnline the message to Mr Trump on Saturday night was clear, saying: ‘When he made his derogatory comments about Harry and Meghan, Meghan’s body language response seemed to be ‘Hold my coat’ as she put on one of the most emphatic sets of bonding and adoration rituals ever.’

With all the gusto of a Second Lady in the White House, the Duchess seemed to be very keen to show just how close the pair are, added the expert.  

James explained: ‘During her intro speech welcoming her husband on stage, Meghan delivered in a similarly breathless, excitable, ‘spontaneous’ style as she did in her recent Insta post about the Billie Eilish merchandise.’

‘Her ‘Oh gosh’ delivery included traits like eye-rolling to suggest surprise, sighing breathlessly, tossing her hair and pushing it back from her face and even the same squealing and whispering to suggest barely-contained emotions.’

And despite the couple being wed for nearly seven years, there was more than a whiff of ‘just married’ about the pair’s appearance. 

James said: ‘Her introduction of Harry involved the kind of coyness signals you’d normally see from a newlywed, implying deliberately to the audience that she was still embarrassed by her depth of feeling for him.

‘Her “I want to introduce a man who means a lot to me” came with more knowing ‘aside’ eye-rolls to the audience, a peacocking hair preen and a coy smile.’

The Duchess of Sussex, 43, packed on the PDA as she announced her husband and also while the pair watched the opening ceremony from the stands. 

Said James: ‘Meghan squealed and giggled and stepped back to hold her arms out to greet him with a kiss on the cheek before extending one arm to direct him towards the mic.

‘Sitting in the stands watching the ceremony, Meghan displayed herself in several poses of pride and love. She clung to Harry’s arm, leaning in towards him like a fan and clutching his hand in an ownership gesture that seemed to (unnecessarily) let everyone, including Trump, know “He’s all mine”.’

The affectionate display came shortly after Trump announced he had no plans to deport Harry from the US amid a legal battle over his immigration status because of his ‘problems with his wife’.  

‘I don’t want to do that,’ Trump said on Friday. ‘I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible,’ he told the New York Post.

It seems the couple were both ready to show the world President Trump’s comments were wrong – whether it be on a golf buggy transporting them to their seats, or on stage.  

Says James: ‘Meghan’s beaming smile involved heavy lip compressions and crinkling to emphasis pride in her man and she used face-touching rituals to register ownership, like stroking his cheek and neck with one hand and, in probably the biggest, most ‘triumphant’ public signal.

‘Standing to clasp his face in both her hands before kissing him on the lips as though sending her own personal hero off to make his appearance on stage.’

The Duchess, who wrapped up in a long cream trench coat as she battled against Canada’s frosty temperatures, leaned against her husband before planting a big kiss, grabbing the attention of onlookers. 

She also enthusiastically shook her pom-poms while placing a possessive hand on Harry.  

‘Meghan used non-verbal signals to make herself seen as Harry’s own private cheerleader, literally lifting to large blue pom-poms at one point. 

‘Her body language looked somewhere between a teenager on a date night and a proud mom at a school open night. 

‘It was an emphatic display of bonding, with even references to packing lunch boxes for the school run and her “My husband, the father of my very sweet and exciting children” seeming to cement the fact that they are a very strong, ‘perfect’ and besotted family unit.’

Trump’s criticism comes after Meghan delayed the release of her Netflix cookery show, With Love Meghan, from January until March due to the wildfires in LA.

She was expected to have a busy start to 2025, after relaunching her Instagram account and projects from her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard, podcast and show all on the horizon.

Some critics questioned her motives for delaying her Netflix launch by two months – but insiders told PEOPLE Magazine it was an ‘easy decision’ for Meghan to make.

The Duke and Duchess previously dismissed allegations about their difficult behaviour towards staff made by Vanity Fair in January.

The damning profile in the magazine – headlined ‘American Hustle’ – stated that Meghan could be ‘really, really awful’ when things did not go her way.

Citing multiple sources who have worked for the Sussexes since they quit Britain five years ago, the magazine alleged that Meghan would be ‘warm and effusive’ towards employees before turning ‘cold and withholding toward the person she perceived to be responsible’ when something went wrong. 

Things ‘went poorly, often due to Meghan and Harry’s own demands’, one insider claimed. 

The couple have reportedly dismissed the allegations, with sources close to the Sussexes describing them as ‘distressing’.

It later appeared to be the case that Meghan’s podcast with Lemonada Media – which seemingly teased new episodes at the start of January – was also delayed.

At Saturday night’s ceremony, Harry and Meghan sat one row in front of the leaders of the indigenous people on whose land the games are being held in Vancouver and Whistler. 

The nine-day sporting event – created by Harry in 2014 for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women – will see more than 500 competitors from 23 countries come together.

This years games will include winter sports for the first time ever. 

The games have previously been held in London in 2014, in Orlando in 2016, Toronto in 2017, Sydney in 2018, The Hague in 2022 and Dusseldorf in 2023.

The opening ceremony began with a parade of nations taking part in the week long event, with Germany, who hosted the 2023 games in Dusseldorf, first to enter the BC Place arena.

Two competitors from Team Afghan were given a huge cheer, but the loudest noise was reserved for the host nation Canada.

Giant inflatables of a whale and dolphin hovered above the military veterans from the ceiling of the stadium with the sea creatures signifying Vancouver’s links to the Pacific Ocean.

Prince Harry later took to the stage to speak of his ‘sacred obligation’ to do everything he can to help military veterans like himself as he was given a hero’s welcome at the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games.

As his wife Meghan looked on adoringly from the stands, he said those who had gathered in Vancouver were there in a ‘spirit of unity’ while in parts of the world there was division and difficulty.  

Harry told the crowd: ‘In this moment of difficulty and division in many parts of the world, we gather here in Vancouver in a spirit of unity. We represent 23 nations.

‘Speak many different languages and reflect the full breadth of the world’s religions and faiths.

‘Beyond any differences, here at the Invictus Games we are grounded in mutual respect, competing fiercely, but believing in one another. Supporting one another. And rooting for one another.

‘The Games were born more than a decade ago, from a promise I made to myself. 

‘A promise to uphold my obligation—a sacred obligation after my own decade and privilege of military service —to do whatever I could to help my fellow brothers and sisters heal, and to champion everything we stand for.

‘Over the past decade I’ve lost count of the times we’ve heard you tell us that the Invictus Games saved you. Respectfully, I disagree. Invictus didn’t save you. You saved yourself.’ 

Saying there was ‘no shortage of crises’ in the world, he added: ‘The values you embody—the way you carry yourselves—not only at the Invictus Games, but each and every day… your courage, your resilience, your humanity…illuminate a path forward for us all and for that, we thank you.

‘Your leadership did not end when you stepped off the battlefield or took off the uniform. It endures. The example you set is a compass for the world.’

The Prince finished off his speech with a quotation from American writer Toni Morrison – who his wife Meghan is a fan of.

The Duchess shared her personal list of 10 women who have changed her life and career in an interview with Glamour in 2017. Nobel Prize-winning author Morrison, best known for her first novel The Bluest Eye (1970), was one of them.

Having taken a class on the author at university, Meghan said at the time: ‘The first time I read The Bluest Eye, I thought, ‘Wow! She creates this world for you that you get to feel a part of.’