Prince Harry Fulfills Promise to 102-Year-Old Veteran with Wholesome Skydiving Tribute
Prince Harry jokingly blames a 102-year-old veteran after fulfilling his adventurous wish.
Ever since Prince Harry moved back to Britain, he has been working hard to establish his presence. This push comes particularly after the Sussexes disputed the ‘private citizens’ designation given to them by the Palace under King Charles’ guidance, as they instead wish to be seen as public figures instead. To that end, the Duke of Sussex has stepped up his public profile with a flurry of high-profile appearances, including the 2026 WellChild Awards, the Diana Awards, the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting, and a prominent speech at the Skift Global Forum.
Following this, Harry recently visited Canada to fulfill a special promise made to a 102-year-old World War II veteran. The commitment stemmed from an unexpected visit to the veterans center at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, where the Duke was raising awareness and financial support for military charities. Bonding over a mutual love for adventure, Harry and the veteran, Ed Marshall, made a plan to skydive together. Although medical evaluations unfortunately prevented Marshall from making the safe leap himself, it led to a wholesome moment when his grandson, Bailey, stepped in to take his place and skydive alongside Harry.
He joined the stunt to pay tribute to his beloved grandfather. And though unable to jump himself, Marshall still joined them on the flight to get a taste of the action, cheering on the Duke and his grandson. Reflecting on the experience in an interview by CTV, Harry exclaimed, “Ed’s been really excited about this. There’s no version where you can let a 102-year-old veteran down!”
He further added, “He was devastated that he couldn’t jump, but it was great to have him in the back. They did put a parachute on him. We did think that he was probably going to jump by himself—glad he didn’t, and he’s still here. And he’s going to be 103 in a few months.”
During his post-jump interview, Harry was also asked if he called Meghan Markle immediately after landing and whether he had to work hard to convince her about the stunt. With a smile, the Duke responded, "I didn’t have to convince her, but she was relieved once we were down. It took quite a while to get up, so I think she was like, ‘Are they down yet? Are they down yet?’"
He also joked that he happily deflected the blame onto Marshall, laughing, "I’ve just been blaming Ed anyways. I said, ‘I can’t, I don’t want to do it, I wish I could get out of it,’ but Ed is very persuasive!" All in all, it made for an undeniably wholesome moment.
