The Invictus Games begin on Saturday, February 8th. I would imagine that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will make their way up to Vancouver and Whistler a few days beforehand, but there hasn’t been confirmation (that I’ve seen) of when Meghan will come and how long she’ll stay. I feel strongly that the Windsors and their allies have been especially active so early in the year because they were trying to get attention in advance of Invictus in particular, because the games are always some of the best press for the Sussexes in any given year. I would also imagine that the Windsors and their press allies have some special plans for “thunder-stealing” and smearing, deliberately timed for the games.
Still, there’s also a lot of positive news already. Last week, a royal couple confirmed that they will attend the Vancouver-Whistler games. Denmark’s “spare,” Prince Joachim will attend alongside his wife Princess Marie.
Prince Harry won’t be the only royal at his upcoming Invictus Games in Canada, as a prince and princess based in the U.S. have relayed their RSVP yes.
According to the Danish royal family’s website, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie will attend the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 on Friday, Feb. 14 and Saturday, Feb. 15. The detail was revealed in the upcoming schedule of events for the Danish royals.
Prince Joachim, 55, is the younger brother of King Frederik of Denmark, who recently celebrated the first anniversary of his accession to the throne on Jan. 14. Prince Joachim and Princess Marie, 48, moved to Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2023 for the prince to start a new job at the Danish Embassy under the Ministry of Defense. The couple made the transatlantic move one year after Prince Joachim’s mother, Queen Margrethe, stripped his kids of the prince and princess titles they had inherited at birth in a shock step she later described as “necessary future-proofing of the monarchy.”
Prince Joachim has spent much of his adult life in the military or in military-adjacent positions, so it seems like a smart choice for Joachim to represent Denmark at the games. And I think that’s what it is – the way it was announced, this is the Danish royal house and the Danish government sending a representative to the games, and the representative is the king’s brother. There’s a bit of drama because Princess Marie made some bitchy comments about Meghan in 2019. I doubt Meg will hold it against her. Meanwhile, it was also just confirmed that Chris Martin will perform at the Invictus Opening Ceremony:
There’s going to be a lineup full of stars at the opening ceremony of Prince Harry’s Invictus Games in Canada! On Jan. 31, the Invictus Games announced that Chris Martin has joined the lineup for the opening ceremony of Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025, on Saturday, Feb. 8. The Coldplay frontman will perform at Invictus’ kickoff event at BC Place in Vancouver, and joins previously announced headliners Katy Perry, Nelly Furtado, Noah Kahan and Roxanne Bruneau.
A statement said that Martin’s performance will be a “powerful tribute to hope, resilience and the Invictus Spirit at the heart of these Games,” and it’s a little-known fact that the Grammy Award-winner already has a special connection to Prince Harry’s international adaptive sports tournament for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans.
The “Sky Full of Stars” singer composed the Invictus Anthem in 2014, the year that the Duke of Sussex launched the tournament, as inspired by William Ernest Henley’s poem “Invictus.” The prose’s powerful lines, “I am the master of my fate, I am the competition of my soul,” sparked the competition’s motto, “I am” — and that’s not all.
Martin’s music has served as the soundtrack to the medal ceremonies of every Invictus Games since, teeing his upcoming performance at the opening ceremony to be a full-circle moment. Prince Harry, a former captain in the British Army who deployed twice to Afghanistan, launched the Invictus Games as a means for healing for veterans, and the upcoming cycle in Canada will be its seventh edition.
It’s nice that Chris is coming too. Other performers for the opening ceremony: Katy Perry, Noah Kahan, Nelly Furtado, Roxane Bruneau and more. Jelly Roll will perform at the closing ceremony. This feels like the most star-studded Invictus ceremonies so far? I wonder if some Canadian celebs will come out for it. I also wonder what other VIPs will get sent from other countries. And I really wonder if the Windsors will once again stay silent and refuse to even wish Team GB well, or congratulate the British competitors on their games.
Listen to the Invictus Anthem penned by Chris Martin.
Chris Martin composed the score to the Invictus Games Anthem for London 2014 and this anthem has formed the basis of medal ceremonies for each subsequent #InvictusGames. pic.twitter.com/rv5b8FZk0s
— Invictus Games Foundation
(@WeAreInvictus) January 31, 2025
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
