King Charles clears Uganda to join Prince Harry’s 2027 Invictus Games after withdrawal threat

Uganda has reversed its decision to withdraw from the 2027 Invictus Games after King Charles III’s office clarified that the monarch has no objection to the country participating in the event founded by his son, Prince Harry.

• Uganda has reversed its decision to withdraw from the 2027 Invictus Games after clarification from King Charles III’s office.
• The reversal followed a conversation between Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces and King Charles’ principal private secretary.
• Uganda had initially withdrawn due to concerns that its participation could be seen as opposing King Charles.
• The confusion stemmed from a letter stating that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are no longer working royals.

The reversal came after a telephone conversation between Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, and Sir Clive Alderton, King Charles’ principal private secretary.

According to Uganda’s military, Alderton told Kainerugaba that the King had “no problem” with Uganda’s participation and encouraged the country to continue preparations for the Birmingham Games.

Following contact from Sir Alderton, General Kainerugaba said he "appreciated the King’s message and clarity provided by Buckingham Palace on the subject" and agreed to a U-turn on their decision to withdraw.

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The development comes just days after Uganda announced its withdrawal, in a dramatic U-turn that briefly turned the Invictus Games into an unexpected flashpoint in the continuing tensions surrounding Harry and the British royal family.

Why Uganda initially pulled out

On September 9, Kainerugaba announced that Uganda would withdraw from the Games because it did not want its participation to be interpreted as opposition to King Charles.

“We shall not participate in anything that does not have His Majesty’s approval,” he said, while also referring to what he called “that Harry-Meghan nonsense.”

The announcement followed a letter from the Lord Chamberlain clarifying that Harry and Meghan Markle are no longer working members of the Royal Family and undertake their charitable activities as private citizens.

The timing created confusion over whether the Palace regarded the Invictus Games, which Harry founded in 2014 for wounded, injured and sick military personnel and veterans, as an initiative supported by the King.

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Harry’s team subsequently linked Uganda’s withdrawal to the Palace guidance, although Buckingham Palace rejected the suggestion that the letter was intended to cause such confusion.

The reversal now restores Uganda’s place in the Birmingham 2027 Games.

Uganda had only joined the Invictus community in July, becoming the 26th participating nation and the first from East Africa.

Its entry followed a partnership between the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces and the Invictus Games Foundation to expand rehabilitation and adaptive sports programmes for wounded service personnel.

For Uganda, the latest development means its military personnel can resume preparations for a Games appearance that had appeared to be cancelled less than a week earlier.