Under the ornate ceiling of London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, an ex-servicewoman, alongside her young daughter and husband, choked up as she told the hundreds gathered how the Invictus Games had saved her life.
Seated in the front row, the event’s patron and founder, Prince Harry, was the first to rise in a standing ovation, before wiping away his own tears.
He certainly cut a lonely figure as he entered the church alone on Wednesday, without a single member of the royal family in attendance (although his mother’s brother and sister were there to support him).
The global headlines this week have largely been centred on the ‘will-they, won’t-they?’ speculation surrounding Harry’s potential reunions with estranged relatives during his brief return to the UK for Invictus celebrations.
To summarise that drama: they won’t. Even the King, by Harry’s own admission, is too busy.
A disappointment, and just the latest chapter in the ongoing saga.
But in that moment, at the service of thanksgiving for the 10th anniversary of the Games, the years-long royal soap opera melted away.
Love him or hate him – and rarely is there middle ground – Harry’s Invictus Games has proven a triumph.
More than a decade ago, after attending a similar event in the USA, inspiration struck for the Duke of Sussex, who – as he wrote in his memoir Spare – had struggled to find purpose after leaving the military.
He witnessed first-hand the power of sport in helping wounded and sick servicemen and women in their recovery – physically, psychologically and socially – and realised he could use his platform to help change their lives.
I’ve been lucky enough to attend some Invictus Games competitions myself. They’re a celebration of humanity, strength, and community, and are deeply inspiring.
Harry, when he’s there at the heart of it, is at his absolute best.
Much has been made of his return to the UK. He’s the nation’s once-beloved son, whose contentious departure has left a vast chunk of the population with a bitter taste in their mouths.
But surrounded by the splendour of that magnificent cathedral in the centre of the capital on Wednesday, honouring the decade anniversary of Harry’s greatest passion, the past four years and all the magnified family drama felt irrelevant.
Ironically – given the damage his criticism of the monarchy has done – the duke’s Invictus initiative is one of the greatest examples of the purpose of royalty.
At a time when the question of the monarchy’s role has been asked more than ever before, largely due to the changing of the guard in 2022, those demonstrations of a real ability to drive positive change are critical.
Of course, the Invictus Games, with its hundreds of competitors and family members – plus the thousands more watching on – has been skyrocketed to its current level of success by the large team of people working tirelessly to pull it all together.
But at its very core, from the moment of conception, is Harry.
It was Harry’s standing as one of the Firm’s most popular members that saw it garner so much attention from the get-go. It was Harry’s ability to connect with people, clearly learned from his mother, that injects each event with authenticity and raw emotion.
And whether he liked it or not, it’s Harry’s years of diplomacy and relationship-building as a prince of the United Kingdom that saw him able to harness all of those skills, along with his personal understanding of the service’s struggles, and allowed him to pull it all together.
After all the negativity engulfing Harry amid his family squabbles in recent years, the Invictus once again showcased where his true royal power lies: as an advocate for the community who he adores, and who adores him right back.