Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Brad Pitt has added his voice to celebrity support for Prince Harry's Paralympics-style games for injured servicemen and women – laying down a challenge to the British team. The newlywed actor, 50, and two of his costars in the wartime movie Fury took time out of their promotion at a tank museum last week to make a short video.



Pitt, who plays an army sergeant in a tank crew in the WWII movie, says in the message: "We wanted to show our support for the Invictus Games and our wounded warriors." As they ended their short "good luck" message, Pitt and fellow actors Logan Lerman and Jon Bernthal and writer-director David Ayer laid down the gauntlet to the home team: "[To the] British armed forces team from all of us: Bring it on!"



"It's amazing to see that we have the support of Hollywood stars for the Invictus Games. It makes all the difference knowing we have them cheering us on," said Corie Mapp, a member of Britain's sitting volleyball team, who was injured in 2010 by an IED blast in Afghanistan and lost both legs below the knee. "It's now less than a week away, and I really want the British public to come out in the thousands to cheer us on," he added. "And here's our message back to the cast of Fury: We accept the challenge, USA. We'll be bringing it!"



Harry, 29, an army captain himself, came up with the idea for the games when he was in the U.S. watching the Warrior Games. He and the organizers have spent much of the last year turning the dream into reality, as the games kick off Sept. 10. Some 400 competitors from 14 countries, including the U.S., which is sending around 100, are taking part in the four-day event, based mainly at the London Olympics sites.

They have been billed as this year’s Olympic Games, the sporting event that will send a positive message about life beyond disability for servicemen and women wounded on the front line. But while the world awaits the lavish opening ceremony of the first Invictus Games on Wednesday, organiser Prince Harry has spoken for the first time about how difficult it has been to put on the Paralympics-style event. In an hour-long documentary tomorrow night, he reveals that staging the Games had been much harder than he had anticipated.



‘It’s been a real wake-up call for me,’ the Prince said. ‘Me and my big mouth, saying we’re going to fill the Olympic Stadium, we’re going to do this, do that. ‘In my head it seemed very, very easy. In reality it’s been a real struggle.’ The Games will see more than 400 wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women compete across several sporting disciplines, including wheelchair rugby and athletics.



Thirteen nations, including Afghanistan, will compete at the tournament, which takes place at some of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games venues. At the opening ceremony, Coldplay’s Chris Martin will perform the official Games anthem and there will be a flypast by the Red Arrows. The star-studded closing ceremony on September 14 will see performances from acts including Foo Fighters, James Blunt and the Military Wives Choir. Thousands of £12.85 tickets have been sold and some events are sold out. But the 29-year-old Prince remains nervous.



‘Oh, of course I’m nervous,’ he said. ‘There are times when we thought that we’re just never, ever going to get to the finish line. If all the venues sell out, then I’m happy because it’s all about the atmosphere and making these guys feel really special. All they want to do is make sure they’re fit enough and ready to put on a show for the public who have been constantly giving money to Help for Heroes and the other Service Charities. People are coming because they want to show their appreciation,’ Harry said.



The Prince admitted the idea was ‘stolen’ from America’s Warrior Games, a similar event for injured US soldiers, now in its fourth year. However, he first considered the idea after his first tour of Afghanistan in 2008. He recalled: ‘I came back on a plane with three wounded guys all in induced comas. I think a Danish soldier died, so his coffin was underneath us. That for me was where it all started,’ he said. The name ‘Invictus’ – Latin for ‘unconquered’ – was inspired by William Ernest Henley’s classic poem of the same name, which tells of strength during times of adversity.

Countdown To The Invictus Games, BBC2, 9.15pm, Sunday