King Charles Put in a 'Difficult Position' as Harry Plays His 'Trump Card' For Reunion
For Prince Harry, this far-from-simple olive branch may be the most calculated move he has made so far. By reportedly inviting King Charles to open the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham alongside him, the Duke of Sussex has placed his father in a rather awkward position, according to a royal expert. The invitation, which has yet to be formally accepted, would see the King share the stage with his youngest son at the opening of the Games Harry founded in 2014.
The Sun reported on it, quoting a source who said, "Prince Harry desperately wants Charles at Invictus — and he wants him to open the games alongside him." The proposal is considered to be very significant to Harry, who not only considers 'Invictus' to be the proudest achievement of his military service but also a chance at a reconciliation.
The source added that the timing felt appropriate. “It is appropriate because Invictus is returning to the UK for the first time since 2014, and given Charles is Head of the Armed Forces,” they said. While “Invictus always invites Heads of State,” the source explained that “Harry wants to go further with Charles involved in the opening ceremony,” adding that “the Games represent a cause close to both’s hearts.”
It is this very goal of mending the private and public rifts that makes this effort so fraught. Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams has described the strategy as Harry employing his 'trump card' — using the strength and credibility of Invictus to force a choice that the King can neither easily accept nor comfortably refuse. Speaking to The Express, Fitzwilliams slammed, “This invitation to King Charles to open the Invictus Games in Birmingham is Harry’s trump card. Invictus is his top achievement, and it is a charity so well regarded that it celebrated its first decade with a Service at St. Paul’s.”
This matters. Invictus is more than a peripheral concern or a private passion posing as altruistic outreach; it is a globally esteemed military charity. As such, Fitzwilliams suggested, it significantly constricts the King’s latitude. “But this invitation puts the King in a very difficult spot,” he added. “The King is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and Invictus is a large military charity.”
For a monarch so closely defined by duty, declining such an invitation could easily be read as a lack of commitment to a cause so closely associated with the Armed Forces — an institution Charles, by virtue of his role, leads. Fitzwilliam said, "The Windsors have a strong sense of duty, and therefore one would expect him, whatever feelings he has about the difficulties that the Sussexes have wrought for the royal family, to accept."
And even though nothing has been officially decided, sources tell The Royalist that the King may be giving the invitation serious consideration — a prospect that is said to have frustrated Prince William. At the same time, the development has unsettled some on the King’s side, who view it as an effort to corner Charles into attending the Games — and, by extension, to confer a sense of legitimacy on Harry.