Meghan Markle will today leave Prince Harry at the Invictus Games in Canada in order to fly home to get back to their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilbet. The duchess, 43, has spent five days at the multi-sport competition after arriving in Vancouver alongside Harry, 40, on Friday afternoon. Aides kept her travel plans under wraps for security reasons, but it is understood it had always been planned she would leave the event today. Harry is expected to stay at the Games until after the closing ceremony this Sunday.
Meghan was with her husband for the first few days of the competition where they put on a loved-up display as they attended various events of the sporting tournament that champions injured servicemen and women. She was at Harry's side during the opening ceremony in Vancouver, where they smooched in the stands. Giving a speech on stage, Harry, 40, appeared to take a dig at US President Donald Trump, who had described Meghan, 43, as "terrible". The Duke bemoaned "weak moral character in the world" before thanking veterans. The pair also visited Vij's Indian restaurant in Vancouver, with singer Michael Buble and his wife Luisana Lopilato, on Saturday night.
Meghan has also been using her newly-launched Instagram account to document her time at the games, with a string of Instagram stories showing her meeting the children of competitors and whizzing through the stadium during the open ceremony on a golf buggy. Yesterday, they were seen sinking beers as they watched winter sports in Whistler before Harry was heard teasing his wife during a speech where he invited her on stage and joked that she was going to sing for them. But today, it was confirmed she has headed back to the couple's children, who have stayed behing in California.
At the last Invictus Games in 2023 in Dusseldorf, Meghan only joined her husband for part of the event, opting to stay behind in California with their children for the first few days of the tournament. It comes after in Whistler yesterday, the Sussexes were in high spirits before Harry stepped out on stage to open three days of sporting events at the luxury ski resort. He thanked the attendees for their support before calling for Meghan to join him. As she stood beside her husband, Harry quipped: "And now she's going to sing!" Clearly caught off guard, Meghan shook her head while laughing as the crowd cheered and clapped.
The Invictus Games runs until Sunday with a huge closing ceremony featuring peformances by Jelly Roll and the Bare Naked Ladies. Harry will remain in Canada for the duration of the Games, where he is expected to give a speech as it comes to a close. Harry, a former British Army captain, launched the Invictus Games in 2014 as an international sports tournament for injured service personnel and veterans.
Meghan's return to California will come after earlier in the week when she admitted to competitors that she was missing her and Harry's children. Cynthia Phelps, 39, her husband James, 44, and their baby Laramie, seven months, all from Alaska, had breakfast with Meghan and Harry at their hotel in Vancouver on Saturday. Cynthia then spoke to Meghan again after a wheelchair basketball match on Sunday, when Meghan tenderly cradled Laramie in her arms.
Cynthia said: "I was just talking to Meghan about her kids. She said her kids were at home and she missed them and she was excited to see a baby that was so happy. She said she misses them and remembers when they were young. She said [Laramie] was a very happy baby.". Meghan has repeatedly shown her maternal side while meeting children at the event, which Harry founded for wounded military personnel in 2014.
She bonded with a group of around 40 children on Sunday morning by reading them best-selling kids book 'All Are Neighbors', an "uplifting" tome that focuses on a neighborhood "coming together to celebrate their diverse community. She also spent time speaking to the children and posing for pictures with them after looking at touching drawings they had made. She was seen speaking tenderly to eight-year-old Lucious Gayton, who ran over to her and Harry clutching a Funko Pop! figure of him, which the royal signed, on Sunday.
And on Monday, she spent several minutes speaking to brothers Benjamin Evans, 12, and six-year-old Sebastian, from Lincoln, Lincolnshire, at the skeleton competition at Whistler Sliding Centre. Their father, Mike, was a competitor in the event, which saw hundreds of spectators gather despite bitter temperatures of -9. The boys' mum, Rachel, told us: "The boys were talking to Meghan about how they went on a tube ride (snow tubing) and got stuck. They met her before at the last Games in Düsseldorf.".
The trip will be seen as a PR triumph for Meghan, who has been mobbed by selfie-seekers everywhere she has visited. The couple stayed behind for more than 25 minutes after a wheelchair basketball match on Sunday posing for pictures with fans inside Vancouver Convention Centre. Meghan was particularly popular with fans and at one point she had to hold up a woman in order to stop her falling over in the crowds, who were excitedly trying to get to her.
