Prince Harry on first royal duty since talks with Queen
The prince hosts the Rugby League World Cup draw after saying he wants to step back as a senior royal. …
Image copyright Chris Jackson/Getty Images The Duke of Sussex has met young rugby players at his first public event since he and the Duchess of Sussex said they would step back from royal life.
Prince Harry smiled and shook hands with children in Buckingham Palace’s gardens ahead of the Rugby League World Cup 2021 draw, which he is hosting.
He will later meet representatives of the nations playing in the world cup.
Meghan and the couple’s son Archie are in Canada but Harry will reportedly stay in the UK for meetings next week.
Talks involving the Queen, Prince Harry, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge to discuss the couple’s future were held on Monday at the Queen’s Sandringham estate.
The Queen released a statement agreeing to their wish to step back as senior royals, become financially independent and to split their time between the UK and Canada.
BBC Sport journalist Shamoon Hafez, who was at the palace, said Harry gave “a loud laugh” when a reporter asked him how talks on his future were going.
Prince Harry’s official engagement at Buckingham Palace on Thursday is as host of the Rugby League World Cup draws for the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments.
The draw will be streamed live on BBC Sport.
The world cup tournament runs from 23 October to 27 November 2021 in 17 cities across England, with 16 men’s, eight women’s and eight wheelchair teams taking part.
The duke has been patron of the Rugby Football League since December 2016.
Before the draw, he met two ambassadors for the global tournament – James Simpson, England and Leeds Rhino wheelchair rugby league star, and Jodie Cunningham, a rugby league player in the Women’s Super League for St Helens.
He then spoke to 12 young rugby players from St Vincent de Paul Catholic primary school in Westminster.
The school team are Westminster champions in tag rugby for the third year running.
Kevin Sinfield, former rugby league England captain and Leeds Rhinos director of rugby, said Prince Harry has been “fantastic for the sport”.
“His enthusiasm, his energy, his engagement with young people in particular, has been outstanding,” he told BBC Breakfast.
Mr Sinfield said the Royal Family had helped to “massively” improve openness about mental health in rugby league, adding that Harry had “really driven this”.
In a video message the prince said he was “proud” to support the tournament’s decision to adopt a mental fitness charter – a programme including workshops for 8,000 young players and their families.
Mr Sinfield added: “To have a real figurehead involved in it who’s championing it left right and centre is only going to do good things.”
There has been speculation Prince Harry would travel to Canada after the draw but a source quoted by the Press Association said: “The duke has some meetings here early next week.”
Prince Harry’s brother, the Duke of Cambridge, did not mention the talks during his first official engagement of the year, on a visit to Bradford with the Duchess of Cambridge.
Meghan flew to Canada to join eight-month-old Archie ahead of the duke’s meeting with the Queen and other royals.
On Tuesday the duchess visited a charity in Vancouver which campaigns for teenage girls living in poverty.
Justice for Girls said Meghan visited to “discuss climate justice for girls and the rights of indigenous peoples”.
Meghan also visited the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre in Vancouver.
The centre posted a photograph on Facebook of the duchess with staff and visitors, with a caption which said they had talked about “issues affecting women in the community”.
It came as a legal document was submitted to the High Court in London by the Mail on Sunday, outlining its response to Meghan’s legal action over its publication of extracts from a private letter she wrote to her father.
On Wednesday evening, Prince Harry launched the next leg of his Invictus Games, for wounded and injured service personnel and veterans, with an Instagram video.
The prince said he was looking forward to an “amazing atmosphere” in host city Dusseldorf, Germany, at the sixth edition of the tournament in 2022.
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