Prince Harry ‘excited’ Vancouver, Whistler to host 2025 Invictus Games

Vancouver and Whistler, with the support of the Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, have been awarded the 2025 Invictus Games.

The games are an international sporting event for military members, both serving and veterans, who have been wounded, injured or sick.

Prince Harry, the Founding Patron of the Invictus Games Foundation, says he is extremely excited that Canada has been selected to host the first-ever Winter Hybrid Games which will take place in February of that year.

“The Invictus Games Vancouver-Whistler 2025 will offer a global platform to expand the range and profile of winter adaptive sports. With deep respect, I’m also pleased to share that the Games in Canada will be held in partnership with the First Nations, in the spirit of truth and reconciliation with [Indigenous] communities,” the Duke of Sussex said in a statement Friday.

Prince Harry, right, speaks to an athlete from the volleyball team from the United Kingdom during training in the lead-up to the Invictus Games, in Toronto on Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

An estimated 500 competitors from 20 nations will compete in adaptive sports, including the new winter sports: alpine skiing, nordic skiing, skeleton, and wheelchair curling.

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, also celebrating the announcement, says the legacies of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games set a “perfect stage for this monumental event.”

“Our world class destination, infrastructure and venues are second to none; and we will ensure the veteran competitors, their family and friends and the Invictus Games team experience all Vancouver has to offer creating a memory that will last a lifetime,” Stewart wrote in a statement.

Prince Harry, right, arrives with his then-girlfriend Meghan Markle made their first public appearance together at the Invictus Games in Toronto on Monday, September 25, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

The announcement of the new host cities was made on the final day of the 2020 games in the Netherlands, which had been postponed for two years due to the pandemic.

Prince Harry has been joined by his wife Meghan Markle throughout the games, their first official trip outside of the U.S. since tabloid fever reached breaking points for the pair.

Britain’s Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle attend the UK team trials for the Invictus Games Sydney 2018 at the University of Bath in Bath, England.  (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

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While it is not official, it’s widely assumed that both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be present at the 2025 games as the event is very personal to Harry as the creator as well as a veteran of the Army Air Corps.

The couple also has strong ties to B.C. and made headlines following the move to Vancouver Island in 2019 after officially stepping down as senior members of the Royal Family.

The family was spotted enjoying walks with son Archie in Vancouver during their stay and it’s believed the West Coast was also the background of a now-famous photo of Prince Harry and Archie.

A photo of Prince Harry holding Archie had many guessing that the photo was taken by Meghan Markle during their time in B.C. Dec. 31, 2019. (Courtesy: sussexroyal)

After a brief stint in Canada, which cost taxpayers more than $50,000 in security costs, the family moved to California, where they are currently filming a Netflix show.