Since the Sussexit, Prince Harry tries to do something special to mark Remembrance Day, or Veterans Day here in America. One year, he and Meghan visited the Los Angeles National Cemetery and paid their respects to several veterans laid to rest there. In 2021, the Sussexes visited a military base in New Jersey and met with refugees. Last year, Harry went to Hawaii and visited the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. It did not appear, at the time, that Meghan joined him in Hawaii and it was sort of a question mark about whether Harry made the trip solely to visit the memorial. Well, Heart of Invictus reveals that Harry actually went to Hawaii with one of the Team USA veterans showcased in the show!! Invictus athlete Gabe George revealed that they were together in Hawaii and they went scuba diving!
Gabriel “Gabe” George’s participation in the latest Invictus Games sparked many new connections — including with Prince Harry. George, 37, competed for Team USA at the Invictus Games in the Netherlands last year and is among the athletes cameras followed for the new limited series Heart of Invictus, which debuted on Netflix on Wednesday.
The medically retired Navy Corpsman, whose right arm was paralyzed in a 2008 motorcycle accident (later leading to an amputation), exclusively tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue that he instantly clicked with Harry when they met at the Games in The Hague.
“Every conversation that I’ve had with him has been just like I’m talking to a friend, a brother, maybe because of the military connection that we have,” George tells PEOPLE of connecting with the Duke of Sussex. “We share where we just left off. The conversation just continues to go on.”
George made his mark at the latest Invictus Games in archery, swimming and rowing, and meeting Harry there (spoiler alert!) led to a scuba dive together in Hawaii in November 2022. Diving is uniquely therapeutic for George’s chronic shoulder pain, as the plunge provides relief and release.
“I got to talk a lot about that with Harry. He was able to understand and to relate,” George tells PEOPLE. “Once he hit the water, it was like I had another buddy. Swimming around, having a good time. You could see the smiles through the bubbles and all that stuff,” he says of the adventure with the Duke of Sussex.
George says participating in the Invictus Games “added a lot of fuel to my life” and furthered his fire for training others in adaptive sports.
“Pickleball is my number one sport right now, and I love to share that. It gave me that fire to let me know that this is still what I want to do,” he tells PEOPLE. “And for people that I’ve met that have never competed, have never tried any kind of sport or may have injuries or illness, when I just bring [pickleball] with me somewhere and introduce it, you can see the life come back into them. That is like I’m giving them a piece of Invictus.”
This is so friggin’ cool. I love that Harry has been hanging out with Invictus athletes and he went on a bros trip to Hawaii with Gabe George. If I can be petty for a moment, it shows you that Harry and Meghan really have found a way to travel, take vacations, work, play and live their lives without the Salt Island asylum knowing what they’re up to. It’s amazing. And Gabe George seems like such a cool guy too.
Photos courtesy of Netflix.
That is awesome! Gabe was truly amazing and watching him put his all into competing was inspiring. Glad he and Harry got to bond. And it’s nice to know H&M can travel and move about without the haters knowing and following them.
Just hope the haters leave Gabe and the other participants alone.
I loved that he went with Gabe to Hawaii and went diving. Yes Gabe was thrilled to be with Harry and diving and the weightlessness was great for his shoulder. Gabe’s early life was heartbreaking and someone else in his shoes may not have made it through. So glad that Gabe is well and moving forward. It was nice to see what each of the vets they spotlighted were doing after the games.
Y’all i cried over this guy so much yesterday. The sheer amount of chronic and intense pain he endures. I was like there has to be something (I am not a medical professional) and of course, for someone like him, addictive pain drugs would lead to addiction and death.
So- he lives with it.
He is a Florida guy, so assuming Desantis hasn’t cut any funding that would help- i hope whatever therapy, including scuba diving, works, he is getting to do.
It really was shocking seeing the amount of pain he lives with. Even at the games, with the stress of competition, the pain looked absolutely unbearable.
Gabe’s story had me in tears! I am so glad Gabe got to spend some one on one time with Harry. I hope that the two of them stay in contact and that Gabe continues to thrive.
I read some the comments about the documentary and I cannot believe that people felt that it was all about Harry! It was not. I am so sick of the haters and derangers.
7/10 pain. All the time… and often worse. It is really incomprehensible isn’t it? These vets are just so amazing…go on WillI and Katie… let’s give the British team some support?
Definitely loving that the Sussexes are able to live their lives away from the British media, and that Harry in particular is able to connect with other vets. You can tell it’s meaningful for him and them.
Also: “Every conversation that I’ve had with him has been just like I’m talking to a friend, a brother, maybe because of the military connection that we have.” Why do I suddenly see a barrage of pillows being thrown at a wall somewhere in KP?
LOL! Yep. Incandescent. Hilarious.
@Jais, and wiglets, lots and lots of wiglets and buttons 😂
The story is great. And it’s wonderful how much Invictus and even Harry uplift these vets.
As an aside, the native people of Hawaii do not want mainlanders and tourists visiting right now and for the foreseeable future. And not just because of the devastating fire. The tourism is harmful. And hope it goes without saying, don’t offer to buy their land!
I wonder how much of that population is left now. I havent been in decades and when I was there, one of our guides talked about how small the number of full Hawaiians were left. Best pineapples I’ve ever had and I can still see that banyan tree.
Native Hawaiians are still strong in number, on all the islands. Their culture, their language, persists. The state has two official languages, English & Hawaiian. Native Hawaiians get free tuition at UH universities. Kānaka Maoli are very much still connected to home.
Just read an article in the NPR News app that, in fact, folks on Maui do want tourists. The other 75% of the island didn’t burn & they are hurting for business. The island, all of the islands, runs on the tourist economy & they need visitors. The initial response of ‘please don’t come, we’re working on firefighting & search & rescue & recovery & are hurting for our friends & family’ still stands for Lahaina & the western part of the island, but as I mentioned above, most of the island didn’t burn.
Love this story on so many levels for Gabe and Harry. Harry’s ability to put folks at ease and his willingness to share his and their journey is awe inspiring. Wish Gabe continued healing and success on his journey
I was happy to see this, in the conclusion. I’d been a little worried about this guy, he seemed so tightly wound, yet going in so many directions. At the end there was a visible lightness and calmness to Gabe that you didn’t see in the early scenes and interviews.
Does IG games have pickle ball? If not, can it be added with Gabe leading the way? Just more Gabe please.
This was really heartwarming both to see and read. I’m glad Harry and his fellow vets get to connect like that.
It also shows Harry is not the hostage to Meghan they claim he is. In fact, he gets about more than she does.
We don’t know where Meghan goes, if Ellen didn’t post that picture of them at her renewal vows, no one would’ve known they attended.
If Chef Cora didn’t spill that Oprah asked her to cook a birthday dinner for Harry, no one would know about it, then she became their friend and attended the polo matches last year.
The Ghost writer of Spare, said one of Harry’s friends threw him a party for his book.
This was obviously not the focus of the series but the show did end up showing how fake these narratives of ‘poor isolated harry who never goes anywhere and who no longer has any friends in Britain” are and makes it even clearer that the press nothing about Harry and Meghan’s life. Literally one of the first scenes was JJ and David visiting Montecito something that was never reported or even speculated on. It’s clear that Harry still does have British friends like them but just not the backstabbing kind that rush to go to the tabloids to sell him out.
I’ve said for the longest the whole no friends and family narrative is built around the British media being upset that they don’t have any friends or family that will sell them out to “them”. Like others have said so much we find out about what Harry and Meghan are doing is because other people say something, like the book release party, or Meghan’s friend posting on IG a few weeks ago. Even the pics that strangers are selling like in Montana or at the 4th of July parade this year shows that they are out and about a lot more than we hear about
I loved each and every story of the veterans in Heart of Invictus. But I was especially happy to see Gabe and Harry at the end of episode 5 in Hawaii. I cried happy tears that Taira had been released from captivity and returned to her family. It was a beautiful and uplifting documentary series.
I am so routing for Gabe. The way he loves his daughter and embraces life and all it comes with, made me love him all the more. This beautiful soul has been through so much and at such a young age. Yet he keeps on being the best version of himself he can be, for himself, his daughter, his aunt and his veteran community.
“That is like I’m giving them a piece of Invictus.”
I mean…you have to be dead to not love this guy, and I really hope he continues to spread his light like this. Holy hell, Gabe is now in my head, because if he can walk in the world, sprinkling love all around, while in horrific pain, I can absolutely do better as a human being.
Ahhh I’ve just finished the first episode and this is so thrilling to see that they continue Gabe’s story AND that they met and go scuba diving together! My heart absolutely broke seeing how much pain he’s constantly in, and the way he’s always saying “I love you” to his daughter, his dog… what a man. Wishing all the best for him and hope his friendship with Harry continues for many years
As someone who lives with pain every day I’m in awe of Gabe,, he has such spirit and fortitude! Come on Gabe we are all there with you, and I love the way Harry treats these people as PEOPLE, he looks past any limitations and sees the man and the woman!! Thank you again Harry for this uplifting event, and thank you Gabe and every athlete taking part, you are ALL hero’s
Throughout the series I was so worried for Gabe. The tremendous pain we was going through seamed so unbearable. I was so glad to find out at the end of episode 5 that he has found a way to relax. I hope that he’ll finds new purpose in life, except for escaping into sports, and that one day something can be done about his phantom pain.
PS: I like his parenting and the relationship with his daughter. Nice to see how he puts his promise into truth as a better parent.
Meghan and Harry are both fantastic communicators. Their ease in front of an audience, their ability to put others at ease and draw them out, their genuine warmth and desire for connection with others … It was all on display in the documentary. Good. Let the UK see what they lost.
One thing that always amazed me about Harry and Invictus is the connections he has with these competitors. He really does everything he can to make sure that they and their families have the best time ever at the games and he also tends to keep some of these competitors like JJ and David as close friends even after the competition. You cant fake this level of compassion and dedication or connection. It’s beautiful.
Love this!
Gabe is so cute too! I was crying when I was listening to his story and how he was sexually abused as a child as well as verbally and physically… how the military save him and then how he ultimately lost his arm… all so sad but I also love to see hope in him and how he pushed himself to be in the games… it’s like he found his purpose.
That’s what Invictus gives… hope and purpose to those who lost it.