Invictus Bombshell: Why the 2027 Birmingham Games Could Be Prince Harry’s Last Ever
If you thought there would be some royal drama with Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle‘s return to Britain, you are correct.
In the few short weeks that the Sussexes have been back on U.K. soil, they’ve already had a dispute with King Charles over being labeled “private citizens,” pulled their children out of school over security concerns that involved a challenging commute, dealt with a leak of Meghan’s cell phone number, and are trying to get approved to have tax-funded police protection reinstated.
For Harry, he also had one county pull out of the upcoming Invictus Games before King Charles stepped in and had Uganda reconsider. The nation the changed course and is expected to participate. But now we’re hearing that there are even more problems regarding the Invictus Games, which are set to take place in Birmingham in the Summer of 2027.
According to royal commentator Mark Dolan, the Birmingham event could be the last edition of the competition, and one of the reasons is funding.
Speaking on an episode of the Daily Expresso podcast, Dolan spoke about Harry’s recent fundraising efforts, saying, “It’s entirely possible that next year, Birmingham 2027 could be the last Invictus Games. Invictus is a good cause, and the people involved are the best of us [but] it’s very expensive to put on.
“Well done for raising 1.8 million pounds, around $2.2 million. That’s a great achievement. But it is a drop in the ocean compared to the kind of money that was floating around Invictus in Canada, in Vancouver, for the last Games … Harry is Invictus. Invictus is Harry. If you think about his brand, it’s essentially dependent on Invictus. Either Birmingham next year is the last Invictus, right? Or Harry is turfed out.”
It was previously reported that Harry was looking for donors for the Games and felt Elton John would help him out. But John reportedly made it clear that he is not a bank.
Something else that can’t be ignored is the low turnout when the Duke of Sussex attended the inaugural Invictus Spirit Awards on Sept. 17. As Harry arrived to the event, there was just a small crowd of people and press taking pictures.
Many took to social media to comment on that, with one sarcastically writing, “Must be awful being such a crowd puller,” while another added, “There are no crowds. He definitely does not need security.”
A third user posted, “This is embarrassing. Quite literally no one cares about Harry. And he did this to himself.”
And a fourth wrote, “Prince Harry EMBARRASSING! NOBODY SHOWED UP!”
So will the Invictus Games in Birmingham really be the end of the road for the competition that began back in 2014? Stay tuned.