Prince Harry Says His "Spirit Is Renewed" as He Attends the Warrior Games for Wounded Service Members in San Diego

The Games inspired his Invictus concept.

Prince Harry and Sir Keith Mills GBE Announce The Invictus Games
(Image credit: Photo by Max Mumby / Indigo / Getty)

Prince Harry was spotted out and about in public for the first time since his trip to the U.K. to testify in his court case against Mirror Group Newspapers.

The Duke of Sussex showed up at the Warrior Games in San Diego, an initiative created by the Department of Defense, which sees injured, ill or wounded service members compete in a series of sporting events. These Games, as Harry has revealed in the past, formed the inspiration for the Invictus Games, one of the projects closest to his heart.

While at the event in San Diego, the prince told the crowd, "My spirit is renewed, so thank you, every single one of you," which drew enthusiastic applause and cheers, according to Hello!.

His spirit needing "renewing" may well have been due to the emotionally draining experience that testifying in court is likely to have been for him. Perhaps he was simply trying to express that he was happy to bring his focus back to the causes he cares most about.

The official Twitter account for the Warrior Games wrote alongside photos of Harry attending the event, "The final day of competition for #WarriorGames2023 was extra special with a visit from Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex. 

"Prince Harry spent time with athletes and their families, and watched the Sitting Volleyball Finals as the 2023 Warrior Games came to a close."

Harry first attended the Warrior Games in 2013, and immediately knew he wanted to bring the concept to the U.K. and to other countries around the world. "It was such a great concept by America that it had to be stolen. But I wanted to bring it to a broader international audience," he said in 2014, the year the first Invictus Games were held (via People).

Prince Harry is himself a veteran, having served in the British Army for 10 years, and having completed two tours of Aghanistan.

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Iris Goldsztajn
Morning Editor

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.