It was a long-planned event to celebrate Prince Harry’s beloved Invictus Games and one he must surely have been looking forward to.
However, when he did eventually appear before delegates, nearly ten minutes late, it was obvious the royal was feeling somewhat distracted. And no wonder. For we now know Harry had just received news he had lost his high-profile court battle against Associated Newspapers, causing speculation he and the other claimants are now allegedly facing a staggering £50million legal bill.
At 1.20pm on Tuesday, a full 25 minutes before his expected arrival time, Harry arrived at Chatham House in central London, in a black Range Rover. Moments later, I watched him descend the stairs inside the building. He appeared somewhat pensive and moved out of my sight to meet his PR guru Miranda Barbot and head of security Christopher Sanchez.
At that stage none of us, apart from maybe Harry, knew the outcome of his case. It still remains unclear if he did, but it was obvious the usually confident looking prince was lacking his usual swagger. And after greeting his aides, it is understood Harry headed for a “reading room” inside Chatham House.
The Press pack, including several seasoned royal correspondents, waited to hear the judgement, which we were told was due to be released publicly at 2pm – the same time the Invictus event was due to start.
The start time came and went with no sign of the Prince. At 2.09pm, Harry finally walked into the conference room, causing the event to immediately begin, before just four minutes later, at 2.13pm, His Majesty’s Press Association announced Harry had lost the case.
As journalists sitting at the back of the room began showing each other updates on their laptops and mobile phones, Harry, who was sitting at the front, appeared to be engaging his best poker face. That was at least until he got up to speak.
At 2.17pm, following a heartwarming introduction by Lord Charles Allen, CBE, chair of the Invictus Games Foundation, Harry walked on stage to speak in front of nearly 200 delegates in the room, including former triple jumper Jonathan Edwards, and more watching remotely. The Prince, usually so self-assured when giving speeches, attempted to start with a joke about the turnout being so high because the room had air-conditioning.
However, despite his attempt at humour, it was clear to anyone who has seen him speak at events before, that he was not his usual self. Some experienced royal observers even described him as seeming shaky.
Six minutes later, Harry retreated to his seat. At times after sitting down he appeared visibly distracted, sometimes looking at his phone and occasionally discreetly leaning in to speak to members of his team as the event carried on around them.
There was frequent laughter on stage, where MP and Veterans and People minister Calvin Bailey engaged in a panel, alongside fellow ministers from Canada and Ukraine, about how government can help veterans. But Harry, for the most part, did not seem eager to share in their mirth and often appeared disengaged from the proceedings.
He did eventually crack a smile after one of the speakers joked Harry had “let the cat out of the bag” by prematurely announcing during his speech that Ugandan competitors would be joining the next Invictus Games for the first time in Birmingham this time next year.
He later returned to the stage for the official announcement and at one point attempted to clown around by pretending he was going to throw a frisbee-shaped sign celebrating Uganda’s entry to the competition. But, in truth, his best efforts to put on a brave face were fooling no one.
At 3.18pm, moments after he left the stage for the second time, a PR officer from Chatham House told journalists they had just been told Harry would be leaving shortly – nearly 40 minutes earlier than planned. He then left the room, apparently retreating again to a reading room inside the venue.
Five minutes later, at 3.33pm, as hoardes of photographers and TV news crews waited outside the main entrance for Harry to make a quick and premature exit, there was instead an arrival. The Prince’s perma-tanned lawyer David Sherborne was spotted stepping out of a black cab out of sight of the main Press Pack, before entering a side door.
Then, in an apparent u-turn, five minutes after that, at 3.38pm, Harry returned to the confence room where, as originally planned, he watched a second panel discussion, this time involving delegates from Denmark and Georgia speaking about their approaches to supporting wounded, injured and sick soldiers and veterans.
At 4.12pm, as the second session ended, Harry got to his feet again and shook hands with a number of attendees before bidding them farewell and heading to his reading room for the third time.
Oh, to have been a fly on the wall inside during his subsequent meeting with David Sherborne. We may never know what was said between them, but we do know that Harry did not emerge from the building until a full hour later.
As he finally exited before getting into the same black Range Rover that dropped him off, Harry smiled widely and gave a thumbs up to those, including ordinarily members of the public, gathered in the street outside.
However, despite his best attempts to make it appear so, it felt likely he had not enjoyed his afternoon as much as he had once thought he would.
