The sun was all shining in the Hague as Harry and Meghan attended the first Invictus Games competition – The Land Rover Driving Challenge!
Meghan and Harry spend their morning ahead of the challenge by visiting the British Embassy in the Netherlands. The couple met some of the UK Invictus Team including Vicki Ross who described the encounter as a” Truly inspirational morning. Today I am feeling truly honored to meet two totally amazing human beings. Thank you for doing that…”
Meghan and Harry arrived all smiling!
Team France was competing against Team Romania in the first medal event of the Games. Earlier today, the president of France Emmanuel Macron sent his well wishes to the French Team on Twitter. He said: “You arrived as heroes, you will leave as legends. To our 14 wounded soldiers and gendarmes who are starting the #InvictusGames today in The Hague: France is behind you, proud!”
While it was never in doubt Prince Harry would attend the games, Meghan’s attendance was only confirmed earlier this week. The couple flew first-class commercial from LA overnight on Tuesday for a quick stop at Windsor on their way to The Hague. The couple’s office revealed they visited The Queen. “We can confirm that they visited the duke’s grandmother, as we previously said he hoped to do,” said the spokesperson. “They stopped by the UK on their way to The Hague to attend the Invictus Games.”. It is believed that Prince Charles was there to meet the couple as well.
The Sussexes are believed to have stayed overnight at their home on the grounds of Windsor Castle’s Frogmore Cottage, where Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie now lives with her husband, Jack Brooksbank, and their baby son, August.
The Invictus Games clearly mean a great deal to Meghan and Harry and the lead-up to the 2022 Games will also be the subject of their first Netflix project, a docuseries called Heart of Invictus. (There’s no premiere date yet for the show.)
The Land Rover Driving Challenge is a test of skill and precision – designed to test driving skills, navigational ability, observation, and teamwork using Land Rover vehicles.
The competition consists of a succession of ‘obstacles’ spread over a designated area in the Zuiderpark where the games is taking place. Each team must pass each obstacle correctly from the start location in the prescribed order before returning to the finish location.
During the visit, we saw Harry driven in a white Land Rover through a water obstacle on the course. Harry decided not to drive but sat in the passenger seat as the car slowly eased through about two feet of water.
Meghan cheered on him!
Zuiderpark (English: South Park) is a huge area to the south of the city center of The Hague. Since 1936, Zuiderpark has met the recreational needs of many inhabitants of the city and its suburbs.
A lot of large-scale events take place in the park every year, for example, Parkpop, the biggest pop festival in the Netherlands. The Zuiderpark constitutes the heart of the city, especially for sports fans, and makes the perfect spot for a sporting event such as the Invictus Games.
The arena opened in 2017 and is used for several indoor sports and the main hall has a capacity of 3,500 people The hall is the home arena of the professional basketball club The Hague Royals of the BNXT League.
After jumping out of the full-sized Land Rover – which sponsors the event – Harry and Meghan hopped into the passenger seats of two miniature off-roaders. The couple beamed as they were driven around a small track by a Dutch and Italian representative respectively.
Meghan had a wonderful time!
You’ll recall that Meghan and Harry attended the very same event ahead of the Sydney Invictus Games in 2018, shortly after the couple announced they were expecting Archie. They wore matching Invictus Games shirts for the outing.
Yesterday, Meghan and Harry made their first appearance in The Hague to attend a welcome reception for Invictus athletes, family, and friends. Meghan sported an all-white Valentino suit. Read the blog post covering the engagement here.
Meghan and Harry matched in sunglasses and blacktops today!— Harry wore a polo with the Invictus Games logo, while Meghan sported a Céline Chasseur Jacket in Black Bouclé Tweed
Underneath she wore a white top. She wore the Edmond Crop Skinny Jeans
She styled the outfit with her signature Chanel ballerina
She carried a Céline Triomphe Chain Shoulder Bag in Black
And accessorized with the Linda Farrow Newman Aviator Sunglasses
During their visit to the British Embassy Meghan opted for the Ralph Lauren ‘Leonarda’ coat
Matching with the Max Mara Camel Wide Leg Pants
We will see Meghan and Harry again tonight at the Invictus Games opening ceremony. The opening ceremony will feature live performances by the Kaiser Chiefs, the Johan Willem Friso royal military band, singer-songwriter Anneke van Giersbergen and rock band DI-RECT. We will see the Sussexes on stage as well
Stay tuned
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