Beaming Meghan dashes to take a snap with fans chanting ‘Sussex Squad is here’ – before she and Harry pose with Invictus Games athletes
Meghan Markle made a quick dash to take selfies with fans after entering the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf for the Invictus Games today.
The Duchess of Sussex, 42, and Prince Harry, 38, were swarmed by fans wanting to take photos with the couple as the wheelchair basketball match ended.
Footage shared by fans shows Meghan running off the pitch towards fans shouting ‘the Sussex Squad is here’ before shaking their hands and posing for photos.
Harry and Meghan then posed with Team USA’s Annika Hutsler, who is competing in the 100M and 200M races.
Later, Meghan bonded with Australian competitor Laura Reynell, 28, who sat next to her as they chatted about her hat.
She said: ‘Meghan thought it was funny that I was wearing the hat and asked if I was cold. I told her I’m from Oz and I’m always cold
Meghan Markle made a quick dash to take selfies with fans after entering the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf today for the Invictus Games
Harry and Meghan then posed with Team USA’s Annika Hutsler, who is competing in the 100M and 200M races
Later, Meghan bonded with Australian competitor Laura Reynell, 28, who sat next to her as they chatted about her hat
Meghan and Harry posed with fans on the pitch before encountering the crowd
Meghan reached out and shook hands with fans who shouted “Sussex Squad.”
Laura from New South Wales added that Meghan spoke about her two young children who remained behind in California.
She said: ‘She was so nice and talking about her children.
“She said the children are excited about Invictus, but they are too young to understand it.”
Laura has competed in powerlifting, archery and rowing.
Harry was in animated conversation with Tavis Watt,49, a psychologist from the Australian team.
Harry, who happily posed for dozens of selfies with fans, took a back seat this morning as most people in the crowd wanted to take a photo with Meghan.
Following her impromptu speech at an Invictus Games party in front of 1,600 people yesterday, where she apologized for her late arrival to the match yesterday, there was excitement around the Games today that she would be making her debut.
More than 2,000 schoolchildren were invited to the fourth day and spoke enthusiastically about Meghan. The couple – whose two young children are back home in Montecito, California – watched a wheelchair match between Australia and Ukraine.
Harry and Meghan chatted with Annika Hutsler before she took part in the competition
Harry, who happily posed for dozens of selfies with fans, took a back seat this morning as most people in the crowd wanted to take a photo with Meghan.
The couple presented medals to all participants as Queen’s ‘We Are The Champions’ sounded through the arena
After watching the competition, Harry and Meghan took part in a children’s relay.
It was Sussex v Sussex as they picked opponents for the race around the basketball court.
Harry encouraged his team to win the sprint race and urged the young competitors attending the games to cheer on family and friends.
Meghan clapped her hands enthusiastically as her group of young people raced.
The couple presented medals to all participants as Queen’s ‘We Are The Champions’ sounded through the arena.
Earlier, Meghan lived up to her rock star welcome by walking over a group of fans chanting her name.
As they squealed with excitement, she high-fived the group and posed for selfies.
Harry and Meghan then walked hand in hand across the court – with the duke later extending a guiding hand on his wife’s back.
Before posing for a team photo with all the children, Harry grabbed a cone and handed it to a spectator so the photo wouldn’t be ruined for dozens of photographers.