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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were spotted at the 2025 Invictus Games opening ceremony cheering on the competing athletes.
Harry, 40, and Meghan, 42, were photographed in the stands as they watched the opening ceremony for the 2025 competition, which began on Saturday, February 8, and was held at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver. The opening ceremony featured performances from Katy Perry, Noah Kahan, Nelly Furtado and Roxane Bruneau.
The Duke of Sussex is hosting this year’s games in both Vancouver and Whistler, Canada, from its opening ceremony on February 8 until Sunday, February 16. The closing ceremony, however, will include performances from Jelly Roll, Barenaked Ladies and The War and Treaty, and will take place at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Robyn McVicker, Chief Operating Officer of the Invictus Games, told People in November 2024 that Harry had “input” in the headlining acts for both ceremonies.
“We’ve been thrilled to be able to work with him on the approach to the [ceremonies]. We’ve kept him posted about shortlists and what we’re talking about. He’s had input,” McVicker said.
Harry, who served 10 years in the British Army before marrying Meghan in 2018, founded the competition for injured, wounded or sick servicemen in 2014. This year, around 550 athletes from 25 nations are expected to compete in a variety of sports, including wheelchair curling, wheelchair basketball, alpine skiing, sitting volleyball and indoor rowing.
“It is very important to him as a soldier, it’s very important to him as a person,” Dominic Reid, CEO of the Invictus Games Foundation, said in an interview with People on Wednesday, February 5.
Reid continued, “We all get something from it for our own reasons. But he has created extraordinary opportunities to an extraordinary number of people. They feel seen and heard and cared about.”
As for the opening ceremony, Meghan kicked off the 2025 Invictus Games on Saturday with an impromptu speech in which she praised her husband for his dedication to the event.
“He’ll be cheering you on at wheelchair basketball, he’ll be going down the luge — the thing that I will never do,” she said in her speech. “My husband will probably do [it] three times because he wants to do it with you and he’s in it with you. You’ll see him through all those moments; he’ll be there with you. What you won’t have seen all the moments that happened in the lead-up to these Games.”
She added, “I need you to know how much it means to him and how much each of you means to him. It is my complete honor to introduce my husband [and] the father of our very sweet, excited children who are cheering you on from California.”
