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Prince Harry tries his hand at 61mph skeleton bobsled while Meghan opts out

The Duke of Sussex was pictured hurtling down a frozen track

George Lithgow
Friday 16 February 2024 09:17 EST
Harry joins veterans and Invictus athletes to highlight 2025 games

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Prince Harry has gone downhill fast - racing head-first on a tiny skeleton sled going 61.5 mph down a track.

The Duke of Sussex has tried his hand at skeleton bobsled as he joined Invictus Games competitors training in Canada on Thursday

Pictures from the track in Whistler show Harry sporting a white helmet as he speeds headfirst down the frozen track.

(AP)

Cowbells rang out as the prince finished his first run, and when he was helped off the track, he took off his helmet and said with a smile that “everyone should do this, it should be compulsory.”

The Duchess of Sussex watched her husband, one year before the global event takes place in the town, and the city of Vancouver, in western Canada.

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, walk together after Harry slid down the track
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, walk together after Harry slid down the track

The skeleton, which originated in the Swiss resort of St Moritz, first featured at the Winter Olympics in 1928.

Harry founded the sporting event in 2014 for injured and sick military personnel and veterans to aid their recovery.

At the Games next year about 550 competitors from up to 25 countries will compete in indoor adaptive events like sitting volleyball, swimming and wheelchair basketball and, for the first time, winter sports like Alpine skiing, snowboarding and wheelchair curling will be on the schedule.

Britain’s Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, prepares to sit ski with Invictus athletes during the Invictus Games training
Britain’s Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, prepares to sit ski with Invictus athletes during the Invictus Games training

The week has seen a flurry of announcements from the Sussexes. The duchess signed a deal with Lemonada Media to record new podcast shows, and the company will distribute her previous series.

Meghan’s Archetypes podcast about female stereotypes ran for just one series before her lucrative deal with Spotify ended in 2023.

Meghan has also issued a statement to express her excitement about the new podcast and her partnership with Lemonada, which was first founded in 2019 by Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs.

“I’m proud to now be able to share that I am joining the brilliant team at Lemonada to continue my love of podcasting,” she said, according to Deadline. “Being able to support a female founded company with a roster of thought provoking and highly entertaining podcasts is a fantastic way to kick off 2024.”

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry The Duchess and Duke of Sussex, attend the Invictus Games training camp
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry The Duchess and Duke of Sussex, attend the Invictus Games training camp

The couple also relaunched their Archewell website, the name of their foundation, rebranding it The Office of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The launch of the site comes as the King’s slimmed-down monarchy has been put under pressure, as Charles postpones all public-facing duties because of his cancer diagnosis and the Princess of Wales is out of action for the immediate future after abdominal surgery.

Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, slides down the track on a skeleton sled during an Invictus Games training
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, slides down the track on a skeleton sled during an Invictus Games training

Harry, who lives in California with his wife and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, flew to the UK last week to see the King.

He visited without Meghan and their children, less than 24 hours after the announcement about Charles’ health.

But there was no meeting with his brother, the Prince of Wales, after Harry spent around 45 minutes at Clarence House seeing their father.

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