Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty
“O Canada,” Prince Harry began, singing the opening bars of the Canadian national anthem. “You’ve only gone and done it again. Did we all have fun?” He then thanked organizers, officials, authorities, “all Canadians,” the host First Nations and athletes' loved ones.
“To our Invictus wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, kids, grandparents and friends, if you can, please stand and be recognized — we salute you,” the Duke of Sussex said. “To our comrades, friends or loved ones who we lost to battle or to suicide, tonight we honor you too.”
Harry described how he had spent 11 days meeting families from all over the world, “from different beliefs, backgrounds and abilities,” and that he could see “how you’ve changed them.”
Pointing to the time and place, Prince Harry acknowledged that the Invictus community was together once more,a decade after its inaugural launch, “in a world still full of strife and trauma.”
“Now I can’t stand before you and promise there won’t be challenging times ahead. But I promise you, you’re better equipped now than you were before,” he continued. “You’ve reclaimed what was lost. Restored what was broken. Achieved the impossible.”
The Duke of Sussex urged: “Remember what makes you tick. Hold onto it. Rely on it. Use it for yourself and those around you, for service to one another will save us.”
Prince Harry also gave aspeech at the event’s opening ceremonyon Feb. 8, moving some of the athletes to tears.
Michael Trotter Jr. of The War and Treaty; Jelly Roll; Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies.Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty
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“I wish that we could close this down because there wasn’t a need for it, but as long as there’s a need for it, we will keep it going,” Prince Harry said.
He added, “From a personal aspect, I’m just really grateful and proud for everybody who has been involved in the planning and the organization. So many people said to me after the opening ceremony, ‘How do you guys keep this going, with the world the way that it is? With the financial piece to this, how do you keep this going?’ I said, ‘With a really, really strong team behind it and people all over the world who know the value of putting something like this on.’ "
source: people.com
