Prince Harry, wife Meghan makes first Europe public appearance since Royal exit

Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan made their first joint public appearance on Friday on this side of the Atlantic since quitting royal life and moving to North America two years ago.

The Sussexes attended an evening reception in the Dutch city of The Hague for the Invictus Games. This comes a day after a visit with his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II in Britain.

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Harry, who served with the British army in Afghanistan, founded the event for disabled military veterans that starts on Saturday.

On Thursday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex met Queen Elizabeth, who will celebrate her 96th birthday in a few days, at Windsor Castle.

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Earlier, Harry and his wife were criticised by British tabloids for skipping Prince Philip’s memorial service in Westminster Abbey last month.

Philip, who was married to the queen for 73 years, died in April 2021 just weeks short of his 100th birthday.

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Harry and Meghan had not visited the United Kingdom together since their decision to step aside from the royal family.

More than 500 participants from 20 countries are taking part in the Invictus Games, which have been postponed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Meanwhile, just before Harry’s arrival, the Ukrainian team made their arrival to great applause.

The team of 19 people from war-torn Ukraine arrived in the Netherlands to take part but the group regretted the absence of one participant, imprisoned in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol.