Invictus Games and “Sports Studio”
Prince Harry earns great “respect”
© imago/Panama Pictures
Prince Harry opened the Invictus Games in Düsseldorf and was a guest at the “Aktuelle Sportstudio” in Mainz. He was celebrated everywhere.
At the opening of the Invictus Games on Saturday evening (9/9) in Düsseldorf, it became very emotional when Prince Harry, 38, entered the stage in a light gray suit with a white shirt. He even managed a few words in German, as an excerpt on ZDF shows. “Good evening everyone and welcome to the Invictus Games 2023 here in Düsseldorf,” said the founder of this very special sports festival, the first edition of which was celebrated in London in 2014. The Invictus Games are not about winning medals and evaluating achievements, said the son of King Charles III, 74. “It’s all about overcoming obstacles and limitations, especially those that you have imposed on yourself ” Harry explained further.
Prince Harry earns “respect”
Afterwards we went to the “Aktuelle Sportstudio” (ZDF) in Mainz in a black shirt and black trousers. Here a delighted and particularly elegantly styled Kathrin Müller-Hohenstein, 58, and her presenter colleague Sven Voss, 47, welcomed him for “a very special program”. Harry presented himself as serious, committed, reserved and helpful to the cause – in this context, he was somewhat uncomfortable with the many photos from earlier that were shown.
Harry was also celebrated for his appearance on the TV show. The most mentioned word in the Instagram comments column is “respect”. Sentences like these can be read: “Really great effort from Harry. No matter what you think of him! He has my respect for that!” Or: “A mission that seems to be very important to Prince Harry. Respect.” Or: “I think this effort is GREAT… what’s going on at Windsors-Mountbatten is something different and doesn’t concern us.”
As at the opening event, there were tears in the studio too, for example when the German participant Jens Niemeyer and his wife Nicole had their say. He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his deployment in Afghanistan. Also on site was the American Angelo Anderson, who was injured in his arm and thigh during his deployment, was there at the first games and now works for the “Invictus Games Foundation”.
Heroization of war?
There was also criticism of the event in advance, which is sponsored by, among other things, defense companies. When asked whether the war would be heroized with the Invictus Games, replied Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who was also invited to the broadcast63: “I don’t understand this criticism at all […] On the contrary, what war does is shown here. The horrors of war are shown here […] It has nothing to do with heroization.”
On the other hand, you can learn a lot from the soldiers, said the Defense Minister: “They show how you can use sport – in this case – to fight your way back into life. That there is always a way out of such a miserable life situation “That sport can help. That the ability to not always just look at what you can no longer do, but at what you can do now or could do in the future can help.”
Goal wall shooting
“We have no choice,” Prince Harry agreed with a laugh to the final shooting at the goal wall. Pistorius scored twice and Prince Harry missed the goal three times. As a “punishment” he was given a scarf from the local Bundesliga soccer club 1. FSV Mainz 05.
And Duchess Meghan, 42? Prince Harry’s wife was not an issue, only a photo of the couple at a previous Invictus Games event was briefly shown. It is still unclear whether she will travel to the final event (September 16th). In any case, Prince Harry will be watching the sports games in Düsseldorf all week long.