Prince Harry

 

Prince Harry.

I've been following the Invictus Games this week, Prince Harry's special project that began when he attended the Warrior Games here in 2013. According to the Invictus Games' web site, 'he saw how the power of sport could help physically, psychologically, and socially wounded veterans. His mind was made up. London would host the inaugural Invictus Games, an internal sporting event for wounded, ill, and injured Service men and women- both active duty and veteran.' I'm fairly certain that this all came on the heels of a highly successful 2012 London Olympic Games. I was in England during the 2012 Olympics, and it was a jolly good time. The whole country was into it. EVERYONE was all about the Olympics. It was like being in a small college town during Homecoming weekend when the football team is winning. And being a sports enthusiast, I fell right in with the party. What was awesome about the Olympic coverage there was for the fact that entire competitions were aired on BBC. After a day of touring the area, we would head back to a pub for dinner and a couple of hours of Olympic level competition. It was grand. I saw a lot of Harry during that summer because he, and other Royals, were everywhere enjoying the sport and promoting England.

I work with a vet who is an avid hockey player. His club sponsors a tournament of Wounded Warrior hockey clubs every year. Our school was asked to provide a Color Guard detail to open the competition a few years back. I went along to check it out. In the field house where I have played tennis, there is an ice rink. Many evenings as I've left the courts, I see the wounded strap on their cart-skates to play hockey. I am always super impressed with their athleticism and their joy in playing the sport that they love. The Wounded Warrior hockey game was as awesome to watch.

For the Invictus Games, my favorite sport, naturally, is watching Prince Harry. He's in it, real talk.

Diana fascinated me. Once, she visited Chicago and was invited to a luncheon at the Drake hotel on Michigan Avenue. I was drawn to the area to 'see if I could see,' but all I got was locked in traffic and the sighting of a view society ladies walking into the hotel in their Chanel suits. It was enough. Sometimes it is just the energy that is needed to feel a part of an event. When Diana died, I cried. When I read Tina Brown's book, "The Diana Chronicles," I wept. Maybe she wasn't meant long for this world, but her mark is apparent in the generous, natural spirit of her son, Harry. Prince Charles did not make him. He doesn't have the ease and grace that his son possesses. Plus, it seems that he has a good time behind a closed door (yeah, so someone took pictures, that's too bad) ... I'm not mad at him.