Project ‘Marry Harry’ Fever Comes To Brevard, Prince Hosts Invictus Games At Walt Disney World
By Keith Malone, Special Corespondent // May 6, 2016
central florida is in a royal frenzy
ABOVE VIDEO: Florida is in a royal frenzy. Prince Harry is in south Florida Thursday morning ahead of the Invictus Games, which will kick off Friday in Orlando. (WOFL FOX 35 Video)
Prince Harry has arrived in Orlando’s Walt Disney World as host for this week’s Invictus Games, sparking Project “Marry Harry.”
The world’s most eligible royal arrived by plane at the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. And many women across Brevard – as well as elsewhere across Florida – have taken to social media to express their desire to marry the 31-year-old royal.
“Prince Harry has come to Florida this week, Operation Marry Harry is in full effect – this is not a drill!“ wrote one young woman.
Another wrote: “I just left Florida and Prince Harry has just landed!”
And even some of the gentleman want to hang with Harry, with one writing on Twitter: “Hey Royal Dude, let’s do drinks.”
But humour and romantic notions aside, the grandson of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth The Second has come to Florida for a very important mission.
Prince Harry will be on hand at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex all weekend, hosting the second Invictus Games. Competitors are all wounded, injured and sick war veterans.
Prince Harry himself founded the movement to give hope to ex-servicemen and women who’ve suffered life-changes in the service of their country. He opened the inaugural Games in London in 2014.
The Prince asked how such men and women could find the motivation to move on and not be defined by their injuries?
How could they be recognised for their achievements and not be given sympathy?
And on a trip to the Warrior Games in the USA in 2013, he saw how the power of sport could help them physically, psychologically and socially.
His mind was made up. London would host the first Invictus Games, an international sporting event for wounded, injured and sick service personnel. And now these second Games have come to Walt Disney World here in central Florida.
Here in the United Kingdom, questions are sometimes asked by anti-royalists whether the Royal Family rise above their highly privileged position to make positive contributions to society. This is Prince Harry’s response and the Invictus Games is his legacy.
The word “invictus” means “unconquered.” It embodies the fighting spirit of the wound, injured and sick service personnel and what these tenacious men and women can achieve, post injury.
The Games harness the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding and respect for those who serve their country.
After the first Games, this was Prince Harry’s inspiring verdict:
“The Invictus Games have shone a spotlight on the unconquerable character of service men and women and their families and their Invictus spirit. These Games have been about seeing guys sprinting for the finish line and then turning round to clap the last man in.
“They have been about teammates choosing to cross the line together – not wanting to come second, but not wanting the other guys to either. These Games have shown the very best of the human spirit.”
And these are the views of competitors:
Competitor, Team USA: “Up until my awareness of the Invictus Games, all I had been doing was living in memories. In my mind, my life has been over and I was just waiting to be done because I’[m not capable of doing or living like I used to. I’m starting to think, however, that my game has just begun.”
Competitor, British Armed Forces Team: “I knew it’d be special, but this has been something else. I can’t sum it up in words. We’ve been humbled by the support everyone has given us. We just want to say thank you to everyone. This has meant so much.”
The Prince recently announced the Invictus story will continue with the third Games taking place in Toronto, Canada in September 2017.
