Prince Harry's friend opens up on Duke of Sussex's 'rogue' Invictus Games move

Prince Harry's friend opens up on Duke of Sussex's 'rogue' Invictus Games move

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Dorothy Reddin

By Dorothy Reddin


Published: 31/10/2023

- 18:32

The father-of-two founded the Invictus Games in 2014

Prince Harry's friend opened up about the Duke of Sussex's "rogue" Invictus Games move.

The 39-year-old's close friend David Wiseman, also the director at the Invictus Games Foundation, explained how Harry was caught "going rogue" at the launch event for the Games.


According to the director, the Duke of Sussex created his own "time frame" for the Invictus Games after visiting the Warrior Games in 2013.

Wiseman said: "We didn’t realise the time frame that he made in mind.

WATCH NOW: Meghan and Harry at the Invictus Games

"Bearing in mind that was May 2013, we went back to the Warrior Games that afternoon, and he stood on stage at the podium, and I think it had been written in his speech, that vision to say, ’Look, we’d like to do this'.

"I think he’d added his own note that said 'next year'.

"He went rogue! We were like, 'What? Next year?'

"For a long time, there were three or four of us at the Royal Foundation managing this project.

Prince Harry

Prince Harry making a speech at the Warrior Games in 2013

PA

"September 2014, we were there, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, it might have been by the skin of our teeth but we were there!"

Wiseman spoke about his experience of attending the Warrior Games in America with Prince Harry.

He added: "We were sitting down at breakfast, it wasn’t a meeting or anything like that, and Harry said, 'Look, this is absolutely brilliant, what we’ve seen here is absolutely brilliant.

"'What we need to do is internationalise this.

Prince Harry

The Warrior Games inspired Prince Harry to create the Invictus Games

PA

David Wiseman and Prince Harry

David Wiseman and Prince Harry together in 2017

PA

"'"We need to invite allies and nations from all over the world, we’re going to put it in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, it needs to be on the BBC, this is going to be massive, we’ll have a closing concert.'

"He could see it before anyone else could."

The director also told A Right Royal Podcast: "Anyone who sits back and is a bit disparaging… from my personal experience he has been the visionary from the very beginning and has been incredibly involved and incredibly proud of his involvement in it."

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