Prince Harry hit the ground running in the lead up to his Invictus Games in Toronto on Friday, spending the afternoon meeting with teams from around the world set to compete in swimming, volleyball and wheelchair basketball.
Harry, 33, who founded the event for wounded service men and women back in 2014, met with a handful of Australian sportsmen and women as he attended a pool training session.
The team presented the beloved royal with two small koalas to take home for his little niece and nephew — Princess Charlotte, two and Prince George, four. They also showed off a boxing kangaroo mascot, which the royal joked he would throw in the water.
“I thought he was going to put it into the pool for a second,” Chris Clark told the Telegraph of the funny moment. “He has a good sense of humour. I met him last year and in the run up to this one and he’s a very approachable young man.”
He added: “His experiences being very similar to a lot of us makes it a lot easier to connect.”
This year’s competition will feature a whopping 550 competitors from 17 nations.
The much-loved royal showed off his funny side at the engagement.
Harry was seen chatting happily with members of the Australian swimming team.
The 33-year-old royal founded the event for wounded service men and women back in 2014.
Harry’s girlfriend, Meghan Markle, is also expected to attend the games — which run from September 23 to September 30. It would be their first ever public engagement as a couple.
While the duo have kept a low-profile since they began dating in over a year ago, the actress and passionate humanitarian recently took a huge step forward into the limelight with her very own cover for the iconic glossy magazine Vanity Fair.
In the accompanying article, the 36-year-old spoke about the attention that has come with dating royalty.
“It has its challenges, and it comes in waves—some days it can feel more challenging than others… And right out of the gate it was surprising the way things changed. But I still have this support system all around me, and, of course, my boyfriend’s support.”
She also opened up about her enviable relationship with the prince.
“I can tell you that at the end of the day I think it’s really simple… We’re two people who are really happy and in love. We were very quietly dating for about six months before it became news, and I was working during that whole time, and the only thing that changed was people’s perception. Nothing about me changed. I’m still the same person that I am, and I’ve never defined myself by my relationship.”
“We’re a couple. We’re in love. I’m sure there will be a time when we will have to come forward and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope what people will understand is that this is our time. This is for us. It’s part of what makes it so special, that it’s just ours. But we’re happy.”
She added: “Personally, I love a great love story.”
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