Is it just me or has Prince Harry gained some weight since he’s come back to the UK? He looks good, but I got so used to seeing him looking super-trim when he lived in California. He looks like he’s put on a “freshman fifteen” now that he’s eating his British favorites. A proper Sunday roast? It has to be more than that. Anyway, here are some photos of Harry on Friday, during a visit to Ninestiles Academy in Birmingham. He wore a black Invictus polo and launched a new Invictus-themed education project. (Sidenote: I’m including a bizarre optical-illusion photo where it looks like Harry has no bottom half.)

The Duke of Sussex had said he is inspired by “people that get knocked down and get back up”. Prince Harry, 42, made the comments while launching a new Invictus Games education scheme at Ninestiles Academy in Birmingham.

Speaking to pupils about what inspired him, the Duke said: “I would take a guess that every single person here is here because of the support that they’ve been given by other people. So the people that inspire me are the people that get knocked down and get back up.”

During the visit, in the host city of next year’s Invictus Games, the Duke also played pickleball with the children as he marked the launch of the education initiative, Inspire.

The scheme enables teachers to use stories in lessons from the Invictus Games – the Duke’s sporting event for wounded and sick military personnel – in subjects ranging from maths to the performing arts.

The Duke also urged the pupils to strike a “balance” between mental and physical health, saying: “Everything in life is about balance.”

[From The Telegraph]

It’s nice, and I suspect we’ll see Harry making regular appearances in Birmingham specifically in the lead-up to next year’s games. Incidentally, I totally agree that the Sussexes’ UK move is mostly to do with Invictus as opposed to A) King Charles’ health, B) an obsession with British private education, C) the Earl Spencer’s book or D) Meghan finding work in the UK. A lot of you have been yelling at me because I continue to point out that Harry and his team have not explicitly said that the move is for Invictus though. But… they haven’t. They haven’t said anything about it, they haven’t used Invictus as a justification for the move whatsoever. And in that information vacuum, conspiracies will continue to grow and fester.

Speaking of conspiracies, the Mirror’s Russell Myers had a piece about how all of Harry’s moves are specially designed to relaunch himself as a working royal. Myers notes in his piece: “But Harry’s return is causing concern within the royal family and as I understand, he intends to throw himself full-throttle back into public engagements with more than a quasi-royal feel, it poses the question, just how will they deal with it.” Myers also suggested that the Windsors should actually draw up a written agreement with the Sussexes about how they will coordinate with Harry’s “quasi-royal” events. It’s not the worst idea, but it won’t happen.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.