JUST HOURS AGO: Team Sussex Hits Back With Shocking Announcement After Uganda Pulls Out of the Invictus Games Over ‘Harry-Meghan Nonsense’ — as King Charles’s ‘Private Citizens’ Letter Is Dragged Into the Fallout.
The Sussexes appear to have blamed Uganda’s decision to withdraw from the Invictus Games on a letter written by King Charles which insisted they are ‘private citizens’.
Ugandan General Muhoozi Kainerugaba said on Wednesday morning that his nation would not participate in any event without approval from Charles, adding that he felt motivated to quash ‘that Harry-Meghan nonsense’.
The move came less than 48 hours after the King outlined that the duke and duchess are still not working royals despite the couple relocating to the UK a fortnight ago.
The letter was said to have blindsided Harry and Meghan, who claimed they did not have enough time to clarify the King’s points before the guidance was released to the media.
And the Sussexes have now reportedly blamed Uganda’s decision to withdraw from the Invictus Games on the letter, which was released on His Majesty’s instruction by his Lord Chamberlain on Monday.
A source close to Harry and Meghan told ITV News tonight: ‘Intended or unintended, this is clearly a consequence of the Lord Chamberlain’s guidance regarding the Duke and Duchess of Sussex that was rushed out without consultation on Monday.
‘Sadly, the only people who will suffer are the Invictus Games competitors.’
Harry launched the Invictus Games, a Paralympics-style competition, himself in 2014 to aid the recovery of injured or sick military veterans and servicemen. Next year’s edition will take place in Birmingham.
+7
View gallery
Harry and Meghan Markle’s team appear to have hit back at Uganda’s decision to withdraw from the Invictus Games today (The couple are pictured in April)
+7
View gallery
General Muhoozi Kainerugaba of Uganda announced that the country would be withdrawing from the games on Wednesday morning
+7
View gallery
The move came less than 48 hours after King Charles reiterated that Harry and Meghan are no longer working royals despite their return to the UK (Charles is pictured last week)
+7
View gallery
The letter was released on behalf of the King by Richard Benyon, Charles’ Lord Chamberlain
Outlining the reasons for Uganda’s decision, General Kainerugaba, the president’s son, said in a post on X this morning: ‘In order not to be construed as being opposed to His Majesty King Charles III of the United Kingdom, whom we deeply revere, Uganda hereby withdraws from the Invictus Games.
‘We shall not participate in anything that does not have His Majesty’s approval.’
Asked by The Times why he made the announcement, General Kainerugaba said: ‘I have factions in the Ministry of Defence that support that Harry-Meghan nonsense. I had to quash it straight away. I support the monarch. Period.’
Veteran royal reporter Richard Palmer described the intervention as ‘extraordinary’.
Two months ago, Uganda’s defence minister Kiryowa Kiwanuka posed for photographs with a smiling Harry at an Invictus Games gathering in London.
During the ceremony at Chatham House on July 7, Uganda was announced as the 26th country to join the competition and the first from east Africa.
Harry posed for a picture with Uganda’s delegates and held a roundel with the nation’s name – making the guests laugh as he jokingly held it like a frisbee.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the ordeal today. But it is understood that the King – who is the Head and Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces – encourages all organisations and endeavours in support of wounded service personnel.
General Kainerugaba’s father Yoweri Museveni, whom he hopes to succeed as president, described Charles as ‘our good friend in the conservation of nature’ in a condolence message following the death of the late Queen in September 2022.
Mr Museveni also sent a congratulatory message for his coronation eight months later in May 2023, citing ‘brotherly and cordial relations’ between Britain and Uganda.
The late Queen made the last visit by a UK monarch to Uganda in 2007, when she attended a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala with Philip.
It is understood that Harry and Meghan’s team were notified about the release of Charles’ letter on Monday at 1.59pm, around an hour before it was sent to the media.
Team Sussex sent a response back to Buckingham Palace at 2.19pm asking whether the guidance had already gone out, in the hope of letting the duke and duchess know ahead of the media, and for the team to have the chance to clarify one or two points.
Meanwhile, Harry, who was pictured at Tower Bridge Studios in London in an Instagram post by the recording studios on Monday, was in a meeting and could not be contacted until 3.09pm when he was told a letter had been drafted and his team were seeking guidance on whether it had been distributed.
+7
View gallery
Prince Harry meets a delegation from Uganda during at an event at Chatham House in London on July 8 as the country was announced the newest Invictus Games community member
+7
View gallery
Prince Harry and Invictus boss Rob Owen, left, present a commemorative plaque in London in July to Kiryowa Kiwanuka, second left, Uganda’s defence minister
+7
View gallery
Prince Harry and Meghan at a David Foster Foundation event in Canada on August 7
Do YOU think the Sussexes are right to blame the Palace?
Team Sussex then received confirmation at 3.11pm it had already been sent to the media. A spokesman for Harry and Meghan said: ‘We were a little surprised not to have been told about this in advance.’
The disclosure of the private behind-the-scenes dealings is likely to fuel speculation of growing tension between the Sussexes and the Royal Household, just two weeks after Harry and Meghan returned to the UK.
The letter was revealed ahead of a reported meeting this week of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec), which is responsible for making decisions about royal security.
Harry is waiting to hear the conclusion of the Risk Management Board’s threat assessment and Ravec is expected to decide at the meeting as to whether the Sussex family should be entitled to taxpayer-funded security now they live in the UK.
Lord Benyon’s letter reiterated the King’s stance in August, when Harry and Meghan announced their return, that there would be no alteration to their role and status as private individuals and non-working royals.
It read: ‘It follows that there is no change to the current status of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Their styles as His and Her Royal Highness remain in abeyance and are not used.
‘The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity. In short, their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests.’
The Sussexes stepped down as working royals in 2020 and moved to the US for a new life of personal and financial freedom.
But the couple have now moved back to the UK for an ‘extended period’, enrolling their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in British schools.
There are also rumours that Meghan is set for a return to acting following the move.
