Harry Congratulates Birmingham for 2027 Invictus

[TicTacToes]

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/23/prince-harry-hails-birminghams-winning-bid-to-host-invictus-games

Congrats B’ham.

Great news for the Invictus Games veterans. I’ve just been reading all about it. 👍

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckdg9wgzeyko

Where is the money coming from? Birmingham is in dire straits financially.

I wonder this.

Really good point.

I’m assuming the money may be government and the MOD as in similar style to the London Invictus games.

Must be, because there will be a lot of pressure on the infrastructure. However, if certain money can be found for this, the residents must be asking why all other services and amenities have been cut.

In the BBC article above, the city council has said that it has no financial input because the games are being funded via a “new model” (whatever that means). The infrastructure for holding the events is there already after the Commonwealth Games in 2022. But I agree, it’s not necessarily a good look for a city struggling with it’s finances

Thank you, @smilesy , that does clarify it, but I do agree with you about how it looks.

I am more wondering how this works if the UK is not safe for Harry and his family to visit. No fashion show opportunities? 🤔

Fuck off Harry

Those concerned could issue Freedom of Information requests about funding and whether Harry’s expenses is a factor of budgeting. How do they (Birmingham City) ensure taxpayer funds are spent properly and on the veterans and purposes of the games only? I assume the City works in tandem with the charity, or do they simply hand over £26m to the charity and do as they are told?

IG depends on volunteers. People can volunteer and get a first hand account of what goes on.

The CEO, Dominic Reid’s departure straight after the PT award, a few months before his brainchild of a winter games comes to fruition and right before this bid win has been announced looks even more suspicious now. A Birmingham Games will become all about “royal snubs”, “royal rivalries” and the ongoing drama surrounding the Sussexes. The veterans will be an afterthought in their own games. I do wonder now if Reid disagreed with this decision to award Birmingham because of the inevitable drama (that can be avoided on other soils).

From Harry’s point of view, will this be his excuse to spend an increasing amount of time in the UK over the next 2 years doing preparation and promotional events? If so there will again be all the discussions of snubs that didn’t happen, accommodation turned down as unsafe, endless discussions regarding RAVEC and security etc etc. All the Harry Greatest Hits. Once again, the veterans will be an afterthought.

Bids can be withdrawn even after the games are awarded. Victoria did it with the Commonwealth Games. I would be pissed off and nervous about the extremely experienced Reid’s departure for who knows whom if I was in charge of the Birmingham bid. Why they want to bring in all this potential royal drama on top of the economic, social and political drama already on the ground is beyond me.

Given that the next Commonwealth Games has no host city and Birmingham lost money on it in 2022, these “minor” games are going to struggle for hosts. I’m not convinced the MOD should pay when we need more money spent to protect us. Harry’s idea should not be funded by the tax payer. If anyone else is interested, so be it.

Not a great move in my opinion - main talking points between now and the closing ceremony:

1. Harry and Meghan - attendance
2. Harry and Meghan - what she is wearing
3. Harry and Meghan - will they bring the children
4. Harry and Meghan - security
5. Will the RF attend on any given day
6. Harry and Meghan - will he visit ….. [insert RF name] and bottom of the list
7. Invictus itself, the athletes and their families

The circus will indeed be coming to town and Dominic Reid knew it.

It will put several people in a difficult position, as you imply, TorturedPoet:

Harry will have been hoping for another venue to avoid...awkwardness.

Meghan will not want to come the the UK (but then, that might be a good thing for Invictus)

The RF will be put in a difficult position because they're damned if they do, and damned if they don't. Anti-royal commentators will blame them for 'not supporting dear Harry and Invictus' if they stay away, but also accuse them of muscling in on Harry's show if they do. Celebitchy and the SS will have a field day, whatever 🙄

The Spencers may turn out en masse, which again might be a source of awkwardness for several reasons.

I see trouble ahead!

My personal view is that Meghan should keep away and leave Invictus to Harry this time.

Should have added...I hope the IG committee, and Harry, will understand that the veterans need to be front and centre this time - or the writing is on the wall for Invictus.

If H & M have plans to repeat their last couple of performances, someone needs to tell them to butt out!

Fantastic! 😀

The Spencer’s? Most people have no idea what most of them look like. The General public don’t attend these games, relatives do, or watch them on tv.They have always been about Harry, because no one knows the participants. It’s always “Harry’s Invictus Games”. It’s never been anything else.

That is good news! Looking forward to it.

It's very important to the Sussexes because they have to merchandise themselves. Plus it will be about Meghan's outfits, that seems to be her thing now. I'm confused about the security because I think there's still an ongoing case? It may be a sticking point. Although every other country seems safe, including Nigeria so who knows what that's all about.

I think it’s the right choice for Invictus, because one thing that the UK is generally good for is supporting sporting events (for example there was a sold out crowd of 60,000 at the London Olympic stadium on Saturday for a Diamond League athletics meet that struggled to fill much smaller venues generally). And ticket sales revenues could make a massive difference to Invictus’ financial stability - they had to give tickets away for free at the last Games.

That said, as others have pointed out, there’s every possibility that the Games themselves will struggle to draw focus over the Royal drama.

I should think this has thrown their “plans” in to disarray. I’m sure they would have much preferred Washington DC. They now have the problem that if they want to do a “12 months to go” thing, they have the issue that they have repeatedly stated that they are not safe in the UK, and also they won’t have an American audience in situ

I absolutely agree that the UK is a good choice for the reasons you have stated and also there was a huge amount of feel good factor around the commonwealth games in Birmingham. I appreciate that Invictus is very different but I’m sure it will be well supported, which is after all what it’s about

Wow. I was hoping but thought Washington DC had it. Absolutely brilliant news.

Defence Secretary John Healey expressed his enthusiasm, noting: "I know the Ministry of Defence and the people of Birmingham will warmly welcome teams from around the world to support military personnel injured in conflict."
Healey highlighted the significance of the event: "The Invictus Games are an important chance to stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies and support those who defend us." Helen Helliwell, chief executive of the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027, promised that this iteration of the Games would set a new bar for cohesion and sustainability, while laying down legacy programmes that will benefit communities across the country.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/huge-boost-birmingham-city-wins-29592446

#GoInvictus