{"id":615930,"date":"2026-09-14T16:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T16:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/615930\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T16:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T16:24:09","slug":"uganda-reverses-invictus-games-withdrawal-after-reassurance-from-king-charles-uganda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/615930\/","title":{"rendered":"Uganda reverses Invictus Games withdrawal after reassurance from King Charles | Uganda"},"content":{"rendered":"

Uganda has U-turned on its decision to withdraw from the Duke of Sussex\u2019s Invictus Games<\/a> after the country\u2019s military chief said he had been reassured by King Charles that there was \u201cno problem\u201d with its participation.<\/p>\n

Last week, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the eldest son of the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, made the surprise announcement the country would not participate in the games<\/a> in a post on X. He said he was motivated by his respect for the king amid division over the \u201cHarry-Meghan nonsense\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, a post on Monday from the spokesperson of the Uganda People\u2019s Defence Force (UPDF), Chris Magezi, announced that Kainerugaba had reinstated Uganda\u2019s participation in the 2027 Invictus Games<\/a>, which will be held in Birmingham.<\/p>\n

Magezi wrote that the shift was prompted by a telephone conversation between Kainerugaba and the principal private secretary to the king and queen, Clive Alderton. <\/p>\n

Alderton had \u201crevealed that King Charles III was moved by Gen Kainerugaba\u2019s sensitive consideration of the king\u2019s opinion on the upcoming Invictus Games organised by Prince Harry<\/a>, the Duke of Sussex\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added that Charles \u201chas no problem with Uganda\u2019s participation in the Invictus Games, and encouraged the [Chief of Defence Forces] CDF to proceed with preparations\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kainerugaba \u201cappreciated the king\u2019s message and clarity provided by Buckingham Palace on the subject, promising that the UPDF would resume preparations to participate in the upcoming games\u201d.<\/p>\n

Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda\u2019s military chief, who initially announced the country\u2019s withdrawal from the Invictus Games. Photograph: Abubaker Lubowa\/Reuters<\/p>\n

In the earlier post, Kainerugaba shared concerns that Uganda\u2019s participation would be \u201cconstrued as being opposed to his majesty King Charles III of the United Kingdom, whom we deeply revere\u201d, adding that the country would \u201cnot participate in anything that does not have his majesty\u2019s approval\u201d.<\/p>\n

The timing of the post led to speculation it was 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<\/a> and would not use their HRH styles.<\/p>\n

The recent post stated instead that the withdrawal had followed a statement issued by Buckingham Palace indicating the Invictus Games were a private charity organisation. The king appeared at the 2014 launch of the Invictus Games, but the palace has not confirmed his attendance next year.<\/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

Two months earlier, Harry had stood alongside Uganda\u2019s defence minister, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, at an Invictus Games event in London to announce that the east African country would be the 26th country to enter the multisport event for wounded service personnel.<\/p>\n

Kainerugaba, who, like Harry, is a graduate of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, was appointed army chief in 2024 and is widely seen as his 81-year-old father\u2019s successor to the presidency.<\/p>\n

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, Museveni\u2019s main political rival<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rob Owen, the CEO of the Invictus Games Foundation, said: \u201cWe welcome the news that Uganda has confirmed it will continue to be part of the Invictus community and participate in the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027, now less than 300 days away.<\/p>\n

\u201cUganda became our 26th nation earlier this year, joining a growing movement that provides year-round recovery opportunities for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans across the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Uganda has U-turned on its decision to withdraw from the Duke of Sussex\u2019s Invictus Games after the country\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46],"class_list":["post-615930","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\/615930","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=615930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}