The 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham are more than two years away, now scheduled for July 12-17, 2027. I would think, just from eyeballing the dates, that Invictus starts just as Wimbledon 2027 ends – Wimbledon finals weekend would be July 10-11. I bring up Wimbledon because the end of Wimbledon usually marks the start of the Windsors’ summer vacation. Prince William and Kate definitely disappear for months after the men’s final, and King Charles is usually in Scotland by mid- or late-July. Well, you can see where I’m going with this. The Mail claims, two years in advance, that Prince Harry plans to invite his brother and father to the 2027 Invictus Games. The thing is, the idea of “Harry will formally invite the Windsors to Invictus” isn’t some pipe dream – Harry invites the heads of state or heads of government to every Invictus. The framing of the Mail’s story IS a monarchist pipe dream though.

The Duke of Sussex is to extend an olive branch to the Royal Family by inviting them to the 2027 Invictus Games, the Mail on Sunday can reveal. In the strongest indication yet that Prince Harry is keen for a reconciliation with the King and other senior Royals, it is understood that an emailed invitation will be sent out later this month, followed by a formal invitation.

Sources said the timing of the invitation was designed to give the family the best possible chance of attending, given that Charles is known to draw up his schedule up to three years in advance. But the extraordinary move, which could see Harry pictured with the Royal Family for the first time since the late Queen’s funeral, has raised eyebrows among some commentators.

Ingrid Seward said: ‘The King might attend to show support for the Armed Forces and congratulate Harry on the most significant success in his life. The only reason the King is wary of associating with his son is that he no longer trusts him not to repeat their private conversations as he has done in the past. This goes for all the working members of the family.’

Fellow royal commentator Katie Nicholl added: ‘The King absolutely wants a relationship with his youngest son and with his grandchildren. He has an incredible capacity for forgiveness and he wants to be magnanimous in all of this and therefore there’s certainly a possibility that the King might consider attending Invictus.’

Despite the Royals’ previously strong support for Invictus, the invitation – should anyone choose to accept it – is likely to cause some headaches for Royal aides as it involves a major scheduling conflict. The Games are set to open at Birmingham’s NEC on July 12, 2027, and will conclude on July 17 – the day Queen Camilla turns 80 – for which there are likely to already be some celebrations planned.

It also remains to be seen whether the Duke would risk bringing Meghan and their children Archie, six, and four-year-old Lilibet, to the UK for the event, having previously insisted he could not do so unless the family were offered ‘full police protection’.

‘Harry has agreed that Invictus should extend an invitation to his family,’ a source told The Mail on Sunday. ‘Invictus hopes the Royal Family will come along to support the wounded veterans taking part. Harry is hopeful his father will set aside their differences to attend the Invictus Games and support veterans. The Royals have always been hugely supportive of Invictus and proud of what Harry has achieved in that arena. This is one olive branch from him which might be reciprocated.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Before a bunch of people claim “Harry would never, he knows his father sucks,” please remember that Harry recently told the BBC that he’s willing to bury the hatchet with his father over everything because he doesn’t know how much longer his father has to live. Harry also invited the Windsors to the tenth-anniversary service honoring Invictus last year – none of the Windsors came to St. Paul’s Cathedral, and instead they made a point of “looking busy” and “snubbing” him to create a “lonely Harry” narrative. The Windsors were FURIOUS when the Spencers came out to support Harry. All of which to say, Harry will definitely invite the head of state to the Birmingham games, but people should expect two years of shenanigans and abuse no matter what.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.