Harry, dressed in a lightweight blue suit, white shirt, and silver tie, drew cheers from his fans as he made his way to the Town Hall. Inside, representatives from the 21 nations participating in the Invictus Games awaited his arrival.
While a small group of demonstrators shouted anti-military slogans, their voices were soon drowned out by the cheers from Harry's supporters as his car pulled into the Market Square in front of the Town Hall. Harry's bodyguard, ex-secret service agent Chris Sanchez, kept a watchful eye as Harry walked the short distance to the Town Hall.
A handful of demonstrators, about six in number, protested against the German military's involvement in the games for disabled and wounded military veterans, claiming that the games would be used to recruit new soldiers. One of the demonstrators held a banner reading "Bomber Harry," referencing his time in Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter gunner.
Prince Harry officially opened the 2023 Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, Germany, with a speech on Saturday. This is not the first time Harry has faced boos at veterans' events. In June, he was reportedly booed during the 2023 Warrior Games closing ceremony in San Diego, California, where he made a speech.
In addition to the boos in Germany, Prince Harry faced a different challenge on German television. He appeared on the ZDF Sports Studio on Saturday night and was invited to participate in a shooting challenge, a tradition for guests on the show. Before taking his shots, he entered into a bet with co-host Sven Voss, who jokingly suggested that if Harry failed to score, he would have to wear a Germany jersey.
The challenge involved scoring three goals in the lower hole and three in the upper hole of a target. Despite firing six shots, Prince Harry failed to score a single goal, much to the amusement of the audience. Fortunately for him, the studio was unprepared for this scenario and didn't have a German jersey on hand. Instead, a studio guest lent him an immense fan scarf.
Prince Harry also engaged in a discussion about his experiences as a soldier in Afghanistan and the mission of the Invictus Games with Germany's defense minister Boris Pistorius and veterans Angelo Anderson and Jens Neymar, both of whom served in the Afghan war. Boris Pistorius managed to score his first two shots, prompting Harry to humorously suggest him as the new soccer coach for Germany, to which Pistorius laughed it off.
Prince Harry's recent experiences in Germany involved a mixed reception from the public and an entertaining appearance on German television, where he faced some friendly competition in a shooting challenge.
