Uganda has announced its withdrawal from the Invictus Games following a royal status dispute involving King Charles III and Prince Harry.
General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda’s military chief and son of the President insisted on X that the country would not participate in any event without approval from Charles and felt motivated to quash ‘that Harry-Meghan nonsense’.
This comes two days after King Charles confirmed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were still not working royals despite returning to the UK and were not allowed to use their HRH titles.
‘In order not to be construed as being opposed to His Majesty King Charles III of the United Kingdom, whom we deeply revere, Uganda hereby withdraws from the Invictus Games,’ he said.
‘We shall not participate in anything that does not have His Majesty’s approval.’
Asked by The Times why he made the announcement, General Kainerugaba said: ‘I have factions in the Ministry of Defence that support that Harry-Meghan nonsense. I had to quash it straight away. I support the monarch. Period.’
Veteran royal reporter Richard Palmer described the intervention as ‘extraordinary’.
Two months ago, Uganda’s defence minister Kiryowa Kiwanuka posed for photographs with a smiling Harry at an Invictus Games gathering in London.
During the ceremony at Chatham House on July 7, Uganda was announced as the 26th country to join the competition and the first from east Africa.
