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Post by Admin on May 15, 2016 19:02:52 GMT
The Invictus Games are over, but the extraordinary moments live on. Elizabeth Marks, the gold-medal winning Invictus Games swimmer who became an Internet sensation when she poignantly returned her medal to Prince Harry, told PEOPLE how her big moment unfolded.  "I'd talked to Prince Harry previously about finding a way to get that medal to Papworth," she says of the London Hospital that she credits with saving her life in 2014. "I thought the one that was presented to me by him would mean the most. I wanted to thank them for saving my life." But she downplays the hype around her Harry encounter on Wednesday and says she has avoided the press about it. "I don't pay attention to any of that," says the 25-year-old Sergeant. "My driving force when I compete are the soldiers that I get to serve. The only reason I am here is to compete for my country and spend time with amazing people."  |
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Post by Admin on May 16, 2016 18:56:04 GMT
 Queenslander Mark Urquhart, singled out by Prince Harry at the Invictus Games for wounded veterans, has returned to a rousing reception in Brisbane. The 47-year-old Caboolture cycle racer, having already won gold in previous races, slowed down in the finishing straight of the 1,500m race to help US veteran Stephen Simmons. "What could explain the remarkable sportsmanship of Mark Urquhart in sacrificing gold on the track to push Stephen Simmons into first place," Prince Harry said.  Mr Urquhart said he had met Prince Harry many times previously but did not know he was going to mention his name on stage. "On the following day we spoke about it and he [Prince Harry] actually apologised for using my name as he didn't come and see me first to see if it was OK," he said. "I said, 'Harry, you can use my name wherever you want ... just sayin'." |
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Post by Admin on May 19, 2016 19:02:52 GMT
Standing or sitting shoulder to shoulder with the athletes, all of who are former servicemen and women wounded in the course of duty, it as if Harry has finally sloughed off the skin of the defensive, prickly, overgrown adolescent so many of his friends and advisers (not to mention the royal press pack) have become accustomed to encountering, and in its place there stands a confident young man, in possession of an unshakeable sense of purpose.  This journey began eight years ago, when a despondent Harry was riding home on an army transport plane after serving a brief tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2008 (he was pulled out early after a magazine, unaware of a news blackout, carried the story of his deployment). The prince often refers back to that desolate flight home. In an interview with the BBC this week to promote the Games he spoke about the memories, and of seeing a fellow soldier, “Wrapped up in plastic, in an induced coma, but still clutching a test tube full of shrapnel that had been removed from his head. I just spent a few minutes sitting with them. That was a real turning point in my life.”  |
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Post by Admin on May 29, 2016 19:00:24 GMT
Prince Harry is carrying "the torch that his mother Princess Diana lit" with his work on HIV in Africa, says a poet who's joining a star-studded concert to raise funds for the royal's charity.  George Mpanga, who goes by the name George the Poet and is joining the Kensington Palace Coldplay concert next month, has seen the prince in action in Lesotho, Africa, where the royal’s charity Sentebale works for kids orphaned by HIV and AIDS.  George, whose parents arrived in the U.K. from Uganda in the 1980s, says that he is backing Sentebale's gradual widening of their work outside of Lesotho around sub-Saharan Africa and into Botswana. "HIV is a big problem there and it has always been a feature of Uganda social life and for a lot of people in our community, even over here in the U.K. I thought it was a shame that there was still such a stigma attached to it. |
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Post by Admin on Jun 3, 2016 18:54:06 GMT
 Looks like Prince Harry didn't exactly play it cool when he tackled Splash Mountain earlier this month.  The royal had made no secret of his desire to slip into Walt Disney World while visiting Florida for his inspiring Invictus Games May 8-12.  Harry had last experienced the log flume ride – which features a 50-ft. drop – with his mom Princess Diana and brother Prince William in 1993. |
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