{"id":610967,"date":"2026-09-09T18:44:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T18:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/610967\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T18:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T18:44:14","slug":"uganda-to-withdraw-from-invictus-games-out-of-respect-for-king-charles-says-military-chief-uganda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/610967\/","title":{"rendered":"Uganda to withdraw from Invictus Games \u2018out of respect for King Charles\u2019, says military chief | Uganda"},"content":{"rendered":"

Uganda is withdrawing from the Duke of Sussex\u2019s Invictus Games<\/a>, the country\u2019s military chief has said, out of respect for King Charles amid division over the \u201cHarry-Meghan nonsense\u201d.<\/p>\n

Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son of the Ugandan president, made the surprise announcement in a post on X on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Kainerugaba wrote: \u201cIn 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. We shall not participate in anything that does not have His Majesty\u2019s approval.\u201d<\/p>\n

The timing of the post suggests it may be in response to an official letter to UK senior government and military officials on behalf of Charles that reiterated the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not working royals and would not use their HRH styles.<\/p>\n

When asked by the Times<\/a> about what had motivated the move, Kainerugaba is reported to have said: \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The news, first reported by the Uganda Pulse news website<\/a>, will be a blow to Harry, who two months ago stood alongside Uganda\u2019s defence minister, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, at an Invictus Games event in London to announce that the East African nation would be the 26th country to enter the multisport event for wounded service personnel.<\/p>\n

At the time, Kiwanuka praised the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni for his \u201cvisionary leadership\u201d and Kainerugaba, a Sandhurst graduate, for \u201cchampioning our team\u2019s entry\u201d, adding that their support \u201cmarks a new chapter for our servicemen and women\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ugandan government spokesperson Alan Kasujja confirmed to the BBC: \u201cGen Kainerugaba decides whether or not the UPDF [Uganda People\u2019s Defence Force] participates in the Invictus Games. What you saw is his stated position. If it changes, he will let the world know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision to withdraw may be an unintended consequence of the official letter, issued on Monday by the head of the royal household, the lord chamberlain, Richard Benyon, at Charles\u2019s behest, clarifying the position of the Sussexes after their return to the UK two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

The letter directed that the couple were \u201cno longer working members of the royal family\u201d, that their charitable work \u201cis a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity\u201d and \u201ctheir position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kainerugaba was appointed army chief in 2024 and is widely seen as his 81-year-old father\u2019s successor to the presidency. He has made several provocative posts on X, including threats to invade neighbouring Kenya, demands that Jay-Z hand over his wife, Beyonc\u00e9, so he could marry her, and threats against Bobi Wine<\/a>, Museveni\u2019s principal political rival.<\/p>\n

The Invictus Games and representatives for the Duke of Sussex have been approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Uganda is withdrawing from the Duke of Sussex\u2019s Invictus Games, the country\u2019s military chief has said, out of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46],"class_list":["post-610967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}