Prince Harry's Biggest Project Gets Boost After Press Criticism
Prince Harry has been included in the Time 100 list of most influential people in sports-alongside World Cup winner Lionel Messi and NBA superstar LeBron James-in recognition of his Invictus Games, an Olympics-style tournament for veterans that is facing renewed scrutiny.
The Duke of Sussex told Time the games had saved lives, adding, “That’s not based on anything other than the amount of individuals that come up to me and say, ‘If it wasn’t for Invictus, I would have killed myself.'”
Harry’s inclusion in the list alongside some of sports’ greatest names offers the games a boost at a time when questions have been posed in the media about its future.
Why It Matters
Harry established the Invictus Games in 2014 as his career in the British army was winding down. The prince completed two tours of Afghanistan during his decade of active duty, and the tournament remains his most substantial link to the military and retired service members.
However, journalist Tom Bower, citing a former CEO of the Invictus Games Foundation, recently described the games as the “Harry and Meghan show,” alleging that the event had lost its focus on veterans. In May, U.K. tabloids also raised questions about leadership stability after Melloney Poole, who was serving as vice‑chair of the Birmingham 2027 Games, stepped down from the role. Time‘s praise for the games may serve as a reputational reinforcement in the face such scrutiny and criticism.
Prince Harry’s Comments to Time
Harry was honored as part of Time‘s first 100 list dedicated exclusively to sports, and other stars included basketball players Michael Jordan and Stephen Curry, golfer Rory McIlroy and footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.
The royal told the magazine that he got the idea for Invictus after lighting the cauldron at the Warrior Games, a similar event for U.S. veterans, in 2013.
“I thought, ‘Wow, look at the power of sport, look at how it is literally changing lives in front of my very eyes.’ It was so clear to me. Let’s invite as many countries as possible to make it international, because clearly more countries need to benefit from this,” Harry said.
The prince also highlighted the loss of purpose that service personnel may experience when they leave the armed forces and no longer represent their country: “When you are wearing your nation’s flag on your arm, on your chest, once that’s removed, there’s something that’s missing.
“What we’ve managed to achieve through Invictus over the years is not only to give people their purpose and their meaning back, but give them their identity back.”
Harry also discussed his own experiences playing sports at Eton, where he struggled to keep up with the pace of the elite boarding school’s academic curriculum.
“Sport held me together,” he said. “I was one of those kids at school who did not enjoy classroom work. If it wasn’t for the sports field, and the amount of sports that were on offer, there’s no way I would have stayed in school.”
Recent Pressure on Invictus
In his book Betrayal: Power, Deceit and the Fight for the Future of the Royal Family, Bower suggested the games had become “the Harry and Meghan show,” a perspective he attributed to Dominic Reid, the former head of the Invictus Games Foundation. Reid has not confirmed nor denied the account.
Another passage in the book quoted a former executive of the 2025 Canadian Invictus Games, who described Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, as “bling, not rehabilitation” and suggested the media’s attention waned during the competitions that followed the star-studded opening ceremony.
A spokesperson for Harry and Meghan said in a statement to Newsweek in March: “Mr. Bower’s commentary has long crossed the line from criticism into fixation.
“This is someone who has publicly stated, ‘the monarchy in fact depends on actually obliterating the Sussexes from our state of life,’ language that speaks for itself. He has made a career out of constructing ever more elaborate theories about people he does not know and has never met.”
Bower also questioned the classification of some competitors, writing of a wheelchair basketball match: “While two men in the Nigerian team had lost a leg, none of the Americans were limbless. All were apparently suffering from post‑traumatic stress disorder.”
“The American team wheeled themselves off the court into a secluded area beyond anyone’s view, and effortlessly they all got up,” he continued. “Unseen, all the Americans walked away. None of them appeared to be physically injured.”
David G. Paschal, the director of the U.S.’s Warrior Games, told Newsweek in March team members “actually had both visible and invisible impairments, including several competitors with below the knee amputations or lower limb function loss.”
Scrutiny has coincided with operational challenges. Following Poole’s departure, the Daily Mail asked whether Harry was about to suffer a “heartbreak” in relation to the games, adding: “The question is prompted by the resignation of one of the most distinguished members of the board of trustees for next year’s Games in Birmingham.”
A spokesperson for the Birmingham games told Newsweek: “Melloney joined the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027 Board during its formative phase, helping to establish a strong governance framework.
“Having achieved what she set out to do, and to focus on her other commitments, Melloney decided to step down amicably, with the Board’s sincere thanks and best wishes. IG27 will announce new and exciting Board appointments soon.
“The inaccurate reporting ultimately detracts from the purpose of the Games themselves: supporting the recovery of wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans.”
Meanwhile, Invictus Australia faced a funding crisis after the Australian Government initially declined to renew support worth $9 million Australian dollars over three years in its federal budget. The decision was subsequently reversed in June, with funding reinstated following pressure from veterans and the public.
Prince Harry’s Previous History With Sports Awards
Even outside the tabloids, Harry is no stranger to criticism. The prince’s selection as the 2024 recipient of the Pat Tillman Award for Service at ESPN’s ESPYs sparked a transatlantic backlash, driven in part by the reaction of Tillman’s own family.
Mary Tillman, the mother of the former NFL star turned U.S. Army Ranger, was among the most prominent critics. She told the Daily Mail: “I am shocked as to why they would select such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award. There are recipients that are far more fitting.”
She added that there were “individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans” without “the money, resources, connections or privilege that Prince Harry has.”
ESPN said at the time, “While we understand not everyone will agree with all honorees selected for any award, The Invictus Games Foundation does incredible work, and ESPN believes this is a cause worth celebrating.”
The award, founded in 2014, was created to honor figures who reflect Tillman’s legacy of selfless service. Tillman, a safety for the Arizona Cardinals, quit his professional NFL career to enlist in the U.S. Army after the September 11 attacks. He was killed in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan in 2004.
While critics argued the honor should remain focused on less prominent figures more directly aligned with Tillman’s ethos, supporters pointed to Harry’s decade of military service and the Invictus Games’ lasting impact.
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This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 8:10 AM.