The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the Invictus Games 2023

[MrsMaxDeWinter]

Most of the Invictus threads seem to be filling up, or focused on fairly parochial issues, so I thought, now that Meghan is in Dusseldorf, I would lead us off with a general new thread about Harry and Meghan at Invictus 2023.

Some initial thoughts from me.

The UK tabloid narrative about how much Harry and Meghan are loathed globally is blown apart by the warm and rousing welcome they both received, both separately and together. So the UK tabloids have to dig deep to write eye-rollingly silly stories about Harry being "humiliated" because he did not score a goal during a fun, light-hearted TV appearance to promote the Games.

Invictus clearly means everything to Harry, and it is lovely to see Meghan supporting him, and to remember that it was at Invictus in Toronto that they first went public. The event must have such lovely memories for them both.

Favourite picture: Meghan with Glory Essien, the Nigerian athlete.

The Nigerians have really lit up the tournament. A Kenyan senator who met Harry last week posted on X that she would work on Kenya to be the next African team.

After everything in the last year, it's so lovely to see that Invictus is getting bigger, that Harry is as committed as he has always been to the Games he started, and that Meghan is there to support the veterans, and her husband.

Harpers say turquoise. I wouldn't describe it as that. The designer says seamoss.

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a45171379/meghan-markle-strapless-turquoise-gown-floral-lace-detailing/

Rita Ora is stunning in that black dress

Teal always makes me think of The Handmaid's Tale wives colour they had to wear
Put me right off

🤣🤣you haven't ordered Meghans dress then?

Blessed be the fruit

Rita doesn't even look like Rita anymore and didn't Sam dress up nicely 😂

Aw bless Sam, I was wondering if they were thinking " who the hell is that?"

Nooooo!
Teal is one of my favourite colours! You can’t ruin it for me!

The handmaid’s tale one is turquoises

😭

In the midst of the ball, one commander says, “Every man needs a safe space to strut for his own peacocks.” Another misogynistically responds, “That’s why we have our own peacocks to strut for us!” Cut to Serena Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski) in a flowy gown with a boat neckline, wearing elbow gloves, as she dances intimately with her husband, Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes).

This is referring to the teal ballgowns. Maybe Meghan is playing the peacock here? Maybe she is a fan?

Bear in mind @MissElinorDashwood I am a bit colour blind between blues and greens so put that handmaid's tale comment down to that!

while teal and turquoise are often used interchangeably, they are not the same color. Teal is a darker, cooler shade of blue-green that is more blue than green, while turquoise is a brighter, more vibrant shade that is closer to green

Who knows!

Turquoise had a “moment” in the 90s when it was everyone’s favourite colour… I wonder how many people have bathrooms they now regret 🤣

FUN FACT:
Speaking of colour blindness, did you know honeybees can see all colours apart from red?
I homeschool a group of children with illnesses and I was just putting together a pack for our nature studies topic, honeybees.
🐝 🍯

Not me!

I have a teal bathroom 😁

It's inspiring see the welcome/appreciation participants of the Invictus Games are receiving from their home countries

https://twitter.com/AndrzejDuda/status/1703769913855214041

https://twitter.com/JuliaSeidel17/status/1703811502975721580

https://twitter.com/divriveteranos/status/1703511922061062493

https://twitter.com/BelgiumDefence/status/1703733412442312978

Please take the time to read this:

First hand account of James Dunlop MBE 🎥 of the Invictus Games and Harry and Meghan Vs some posters on this thread, online trolls and tabloids.

“The last ten days has been quite eye opening on the global treatment of Meghan Markle. I had some lovely moments with her and Prince Harry around and towards myself and everybody at the @InvictusGamesDE but I see so much online hatred and bullying towards her. Some of it was even deliberately coordinated across multiple online accounts. No one should be bullied or berated online, it’s foul.

“She’s not dressed smart enough to meet veterans and their families” - It was a Military sponsored but effectively civilian sports event. The vast majority of spectators and veterans were in shorts and T-shirts. All quite informal.

“Why is a civilian in a military parade” - it wasn’t a Military parade. The cycling medal ceremony had a small group march probably 20 metres to the presentation area with German Military individuals. Meghan was one of many civilian VIPs in these ceremonies.

Seeing so much false information around their attendance and the games has certainly shown me just how prevalent online bullying is, especially on this platform. It’s such a shame in 2023, I thought we were all better and kinder.

Behind the nonsense online, I witnessed only thanks towards them. Standing ovations when Harry came onto stage and left, thanks that they made so many special moments at sports matches and handing out medals and taking the time to speak to so many people and have pictures.

Online bullying needs to be eradicated.

I saw coordinated online attacks - after events I saw the same short edited video with the same description posted over multiple different social media accounts within minutes taking up hundreds of thousands of views each. All spewing the same misinformed negative rhetoric.

And funnily enough the same British tabloid mentioned in their documentary spouting the same disgusting headlines, formalising the nonsense. I seriously wonder what those journalists are thinking as they write this clickbait ‘news’.

It’s been so eye opening to be able to compare the ‘real life’ treatment of two people - the love, the gratitude I saw - versus the online/media ‘version’ of events.

Personally I’m very thankful for them to spend an entire week with veterans and families from around the world. 21 countries I believe. They brought fun, joy and memories everywhere they went everytime, watching different games and awarding medals. So thank you.”

(That’s me in the background of those pictures by the way)

This. I watched most of the games and the medal ceremonies and said pretty much same.

Thank you so much for sharing his words @MissElinorDashwood it must be a strange experience for people at the games to see everything for themselves and then the online and media narrative created.

It’s been so eye opening to be able to compare the ‘real life’ treatment of two people - the love, the gratitude I saw - versus the online/media ‘version’ of events.

@MissElinorDashwood thank you for sharing this. I’ve seen the marching thing bubbling under the radar a bit here and I wondered what it was about because it didn’t chime at all with what I saw. I went and doubled checked yesterday a couple medal ceremonies and yep - all the civilians walking with the soldiers did exactly the same as Meghan as I thought I’d remembered.

And like James - I find it amazing how what actually happened vs what is reported is so different. But then I remember that the reports feed into a very specific narrative of Meghan.

Turns out that just before leaving Dusseldorf Meghan went to visit a charity supporting homeless women...

Seems to be an issue she's invested in...

https://www.tatler.com/article/the-duchess-of-sussex-makes-a-surprise-visit-to-a-charity-that-supports-women-who-are-homeless

That is shocking misinformation, but of course the narrative of ' Meghan walked in a military parade and put herself everywhere blah blah' will become the truth because the DM will repeat it in every story. No wonder they left.

Funny how Tatler knew about it then .

And the Telegraph, and the Mail, and the Sun, and the Express and more

I am unable to work out what your point is

And Richard Madeley sneering and saying "I've met people like her before"

That was in the lead up to it. Whipping everyone into a frenzy an hour before. I couldn't stomach the rest