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bitchy | Prince Harry is making a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine on behalf of Invictus
Celebrity News

bitchy | Prince Harry is making a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine on behalf of Invictus

by jummy84
written by jummy84

For the second time this year, Prince Harry flew from England to Ukraine. He did the same back in April – he was in the UK for a court appearance in his security case, and he flew undercover to Ukraine to visit the Superhumans Center in Lviv. The British media was furious, as was Harry’s sibling, who apparently wants to visit Ukraine but it’s been deemed too dangerous for him. Once again, Harry is the one in a warzone, this time in Kyiv. Once again, Harry is the one showing courage and bravery. According to the BBC, Harry arrived in Kyiv by train, where he was greeted by Superhumans’ founder Olha Rudnieva. She hugged Harry and “handed the prince a podstakannik – a silver holder for a glass used to drink tea, traditionally provided on night trains across Ukraine.” Amazing. Harry also spoke to the Guardian:

Prince Harry has made a surprise visit to Kyiv after an invitation from the Ukrainian government, saying he wanted to do “everything possible” to help the recovery of the thousands of military personnel who have been seriously injured in the three-year war against Russia. During the trip to the Ukrainian capital, he and a team from his Invictus Games Foundation are set to detail new initiatives to support the rehabilitation of the wounded, with the eventual aim of providing help to all areas of the country.

Earlier this year it was estimated that the Ukraine war had already left 130,000 people with permanent disabilities – and the government has now put rehabilitation through sport at the heart of its policy for helping veterans.

Speaking to the Guardian on an overnight train to the capital, the Duke of Sussex said: “We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process. We can continue to humanise the people involved in this war and what they are going through. We have to keep it in the forefront of people’s minds. I hope this trip will help to bring it home to people because it’s easy to become desensitised to what has been going on.”

The prince said he was initially invited to Kyiv by Olga Rudnieva, the founder and CEO of the Superhumans Trauma Centre in Lviv, Ukraine which treats wounded amputees. He visited the centre in April, but met her by chance a couple of months ago in the US.

“I bumped into Olga in New York. It was a chance meeting and I asked her what I could do to help. She said ‘the biggest impact you have is coming to Kyiv’. I had to check with my wife and the British government to make sure it was OK. Then the official invitation came. In Lviv, you don’t see much of the war. It is so far west. This is the first time we will see the real destruction of the war.”

Ukraine first took part in the Invictus Games in 2017, but enthusiasm and need for the competition, which was founded by the Prince in 2014 for wounded veterans to compete in sports events, has grown dramatically since the conflict with Russia began. The Duke remembered the reception Ukraine’s team received at the games in The Hague two years ago.

“It was remarkable. Every one of the participants had a journey to get to those games, but nobody from any of the other competing nations was going back to war. That is why the Ukrainians stood out. Everyone felt an immense connection to them. Some of the competitors were being pulled off the battlefield and were going back to the battlefield. It means so much to us, because it means so much to them.”

During the trip, the Prince is due to visit the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War. He is expected to spend time with 200 veterans, who have also been invited. He is also due to meet the Ukrainian prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko.

Travelling to Kyiv would give him a chance to talk to veterans, and also see some of the destruction first-hand, he said. While the biennial Invictus Games have been the focal point of much of the foundation’s work, it has been increasing its sports recovery programmes to help provide opportunities for rehabilitation beyond the main games, including by providing sports equipment in Ukraine.

[From The Guardian]

Harry isn’t solo – he has some Invictus people with him, and the focus is very much on Ukraine’s veterans, soldiers and the civilians who have been living in this warzone for two and a half years. Keep in mind that the British press has been trying to stir up trouble in Invictus as well, and they’ve argued that Harry is too controversial or whatever to be the Invictus founder/patron. And here he is, making his second visit to Ukraine in six months. It’s extraordinary. I love the mention of asking permission from his wife and from the British government. Keir Starmer probably knew about this trip before Prince William. There are plates being smashed in Kensington Palace today!

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Superhumans’ Center’s IG.

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bitchy | Eden: Prince Harry should resign from Invictus so it can have another royal patron!!
Celebrity News

bitchy | Eden: Prince Harry should resign from Invictus so it can have another royal patron!!

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Last year, there was a high-profile campaign to somehow force or convince Prince Harry to resign from his board position on African Parks, a well-funded NGO working to conserve African ecosystems and protect African animal populations. As I said at the time, the campaign was very clearly coming from Prince William, and I also said that William’s ultimate goal is to somehow f–k with all of Harry’s major patronages. Then, this year, the Sentebale catastrophe happened. Once again, William’s peggy fingerprints were all over that fiasco. Everyone once again pointed out that William only gives a sh-t about taking things away from Harry and harming Harry’s philanthropic legacy. Well, it looks like William is making some moves on the Invictus Games. The Daily Mail’s Richard Eden wrote this infuriating column:

The Duke of Sussex said his decision to resign earlier this year as patron of Sentebale, the charity he co-founded to help Aids orphans in southern Africa, was ‘devastating’. Now, however, he may come under pressure to quit as patron of the other cause closest to his heart. I hear increasing rumblings of discontent about Prince Harry’s role as patron of the Invictus Games, the international sports event he founded with his brother and sister-in-law, the Prince and Princess of Wales, to help wounded, injured and sick military service personnel.

A source close to the Invictus Games Foundation tells me there is concern that Harry is no longer the help to the charity that he once was.

‘The duke has become an increasingly divisive figure, particularly in the Armed Forces,’ the source says. ‘And that is not good for Invictus. We are all about bringing people together and inspiring those who have suffered hardship. Now, Invictus is firmly established, it might be better if the duke took a step back.’

The issue is particularly sensitive because the next Invictus Games is due to be held in this country, in Birmingham, in 2027. Given Harry’s estrangement from the Royal Family – which he has attacked publicly on a number of occasions including in his memoir, Spare, and the interview with Oprah Winfrey – it is doubtful that any members would want to be seen alongside him in Birmingham. Stories have already appeared suggesting that Invictus will invite royals to attend the 2027 games, putting them in an awkward position – and this has led to further unease.

‘It is worrying that such a worthy event seems to be used for PR [public relations] purposes,’ says the source. ‘Normally, senior members of the Royal Family would want to attend. It goes without saying that they support the Forces to the hilt, so it would be unfortunate if they felt unable to because of Harry’s presence.’

A royal source tells me: ‘If Harry were to resign as patron of Invictus, I’m sure they would have no trouble finding a new royal patron.’

Rob Owen, chief executive of the Invictus Games Foundation, tells me: ‘We are proud to have the Duke of Sussex as the patron and founder. The Invictus movement stems from his ideas and his passion for the international community of wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans, borne out of his military service experience, and his understanding of the power of sport to change lives and save lives. The spotlight he brings to the community, and to our work, has changed the perceptions of mental health, of military personnel, and of disability worldwide.’

[From The Daily Mail]

“If Harry were to resign as patron of Invictus, I’m sure they would have no trouble finding a new royal patron.” It makes me feel sick to my stomach, actually. The fact that William is waging this public campaign to do what? A hostile takeover of Harry’s signature achievement, his brainchild, the event he painstakingly put together and nurtured for more than a decade? All so his ugly brother can claim it as his own royal patronage? And that’s another thing… for argument’s sake, let’s say this happened the way William wants, and Invictus is like “well, sh-t, let’s ask William to be our royal patron.” Is that not an enormous embarrassment for Invictus AND William? Or is he too stupid and childish to understand that? What’s also funny is that William refuses to do anything with his existing patronages (nevermind taking on new patronages), and yet he’s an eager-beager whenever it comes to anything Harry founded?

Also: “Normally, senior members of the Royal Family would want to attend. It goes without saying that they support the Forces to the hilt, so it would be unfortunate if they felt unable to because of Harry’s presence.” The Windsors actually refused to even congratulate or send well-wishes to the British Invictus team in 2022, 2023 and 2025. They were so mad that Harry was getting so much attention as Invictus’s founder, they went out of their way to snub British veterans. Not even a tweet of congratulations, not even a small reception for the medal-winning British Invictus team. These people are completely pathetic.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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