Prince Harry is gearing up for one of his favorite events of the year: the Invictus Games, which will be held in Düsseldorf, Germany, between Sept. 9 and 16.
In a new video message directed at the athletes who will be representing their respective countries in the Games, the Duke of Sussex revealed how he's feeling in the run-up to the competition.
"I hope you're excited, and probably a little bit nervous. I'm both. But I can't wait to see all of you and have the whole community together once again. It's been too long," he began.
The royal continued, "I'm sure some of you have been waiting for this moment for a very long time. You're all on different parts of your healing journey—we all are, we always will be—but I can assure you that this experience you're gonna have will hopefully be life-changing, and you'll come out of it a better person for sure.
"So really I just wanted to say good luck with the remaining few weeks, have fun, look forward to it—being nervous and having some anticipation is a really good thing."
He concluded, "We're gonna have fun. We're gonna have a lot of fun. I can't wait to have all of you together and, yeah, look forward to it. These last few weeks and then those last few days will be exciting and nervous, but we're ready. We're ready to host you, and it's gonna be the best games ever—best games yet."
The Invictus Games see members of armed forces from around the world who are wounded, injured or ill compete in a series of sporting events. Harry held the first Games in 2014 in London. This year, he and his wife Meghan Markle are set to make the trip over to Germany to experience the event in person.
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It’s a month to the #InvictusGamesDūsseldorf 🥳 🎉and @invictusgamesNG is super excited and ready! Here’s what Prince Harry had to say. Who’s excited? 🥳 How do you feel? #Invictus2023 #InvictusGames pic.twitter.com/CZt1Dy7LfyAugust 10, 2023
Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.
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