The single sharpest fact in one or two punchy sentences. Who did what, where, when, and why it matters. Not a summary of everything — the one thing that makes someone stop scrolling. A reader who only reads this paragraph must understand what happened. Prince Harry's visit to the UK this week was meant to promote his passion project, the Invictus Games, but instead, it ended in a series of unfortunate events. His wife, Meghan, did not make any public appearances, and Prince Harry's defeat in court against Associated Newspapers overshadowed his events.
But even before Harry's visit had begun, there was chaos. A war of words, with acrimonious rival briefings, had taken place between Prince Harry's team and Buckingham Palace over where he would be staying during his visit. It emerged that he had already been told he wasn't staying at Buckingham Palace, and the palace ended up looking more convincing.
The war of words between Buckingham Palace and Prince Harry's team began before his visit even started. Prince Harry had requested that the palace make some rooms available for him to stay in, but the palace declined, citing that those rooms were already taken by other guests. Prince Harry's team then released a statement saying that they had been treated unfairly, but the palace denied this, saying that the rooms were indeed available but that Prince Harry's team had not requested them in time.
The first engagement of the week was meant to be a showcase for the Invictus Games, but it was overshadowed by the news of Prince Harry's court defeat. As Prince Harry took to the podium to speak, word spread that he had lost all his claims against the publishers of the Daily Mail. Plans for an on-camera statement from Prince Harry were hastily ditched, and press were no longer allowed to go inside an event planned for the following day.
The Duchess of Sussex is a polarising figure in the UK, provoking strong reactions among her supporters and her detractors. But there is no denying how much she fascinates the public and how much that can bring attention to causes. A row over security meant that she had already been pulled from the start of Prince Harry's week in the UK. But there was still the possibility that Meghan would show up later in the week, as originally planned, particularly at the big Invictus showcase at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre.
On the evening before that big moment, which would bring together Invictus competitors and supporters along with the TV cameras, that appearance was ruled out too. Meghan wasn't attending any public events in the UK. That still left open the prospect of a private visit – and indeed on Friday afternoon Meghan was part of the meeting with the King, along with her husband and children, revealed in a Palace statement with only the barest of details.
Prince Harry was a relaxed figure among his fellow Invictus supporters at the event in Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre. He worked the room – and it was a very big room – with great patience, hugging and chatting, joking, posing for pictures, trying out a few of the sports events. His support was clearly deeply valued. In a spirit of inclusion, he tried out a new British Sign Language sign that had been designed to say Invictus Games, when you imagine he might have wanted to try out some more direct sign language.
But at the Invictus event, you could see what was being missed. Here was the Invictus community that is Prince Harry's “second family”, people he has known and worked with for many years, a place of trust, where Harry was the hero. He worked the room – and it was a very big room – with great patience, hugging and chatting, joking, posing for pictures, trying out a few of the sports events. His support was clearly deeply valued. In a spirit of inclusion, he tried out a new British Sign Language sign that had been designed to say Invictus Games, when you imagine he might have wanted to try out some more direct sign language.