MEGHAN Markle and Prince Harry have been packing on the PDA as the Invictus Games kick off in Canada.
Harry launched the Games back in 2014 for injured servicemen and women – a cause that’s close to the ex-soldier’s heart.
But it is Meghan who seems to have placed herself front and centre of this year’s Games in Vancouver, Canada – raising eyebrows from critics.
Among the 43-year-old’s show-stealing antics was an “impromtu” introduction to Harry, 40, during the opening ceremony – in which she gushed over the Prince‘s parenting skills.
Later, in the stands, the pair were seen conspicuously giggling and smooching.
Royal biographer Ingrid Seward told The Sun that these “interferences” are simply not needed, given it is Harry’s precious event.
She said: “I thought it was unnecessary of Meghan to interfere with what is essentially Harry’s baby. She knows that.
“He really doesn’t need her. When Harry first launched the Invictus Games in London, he was launching it in front of his dad, his stepmum, and his brother.
“He doesn’t need Meghan there to introduce him. I thought it was really wrong and kind of detracted from what he was trying to do.”
She added: “Everything that Meghan does seems to be making everything about her.
“She should have let Harry get on with it himself, instead of interfering.
“She should have said ‘actually, let me step back and you do it’. He doesn’t need it [Meghan’s help]. Harry’s a very good public speaker.”
Ingrid believed the performance was indicative of the couple’s Hollywood lifestyle since moving to the US.
She said: “I’m not beating Meghan up because. It’s very California. It’s very LA.
“But I don’t think it works very well with something like Invictus.”
After the introduction, the pair shared a passionate kiss on stage, to whoops from the audience.
But Ingrid said she thought this kind of PDA was “for the cameras”.
However, she applauded Meghan for watching a range of sporting events – which this week included wheelchair curling and wheelchair basketball.
Ingrid said: “I think it’s actually quite supportive of her to be there, watching [the events].
“What I dislike is when she tries to muscle in on the stage with him. Fine if she just sits quietly and supportively. But it is Harry’s event.”
Earlier this week, another expert, Hugo Vickers, told The Sun described Meghan’s speech as “like a sort of Oscar ceremony”.
He added: “Yes, it showed in a united front. But you must remember she’s an actress, so I don’t know how seriously one can take that seriously.
“I think she definitely used it to assert her own position. I would have much preferred it if he had come on his own.”
This year’s Games – originally founded by Harry in 2014 for wounded, injured and sick military service personnel – has brought together more than 500 competitors from 23 nations.
The opening came just hours after Donald Trump took a savage swipe at Meghan.
Ruling out deporting Harry, Trump said: “I don’t want to do that.
“I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”
62 British competitors are competing in the tournament – all veterans and serving personnel who sustained life-changing injuries and illnesses while serving in the UK Armed Forces.
The games have previously been held in London in 2014, in Orlando in 2016, Toronto in 2017, Sydney in 2018, The Hague in 2022 and Dusseldorf in 2023.
Harry and Meghan famously appeared in public together for the first time at the Toronto Invictus Games in 2017, pictured hand-in-hand at a wheelchair tennis event.
The event aims to “inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding and respect for those who have served their country”, the Royal British Legion has said.
The Sussexes have been contacted for comment.
Meghan Markle's impromptu speech
In a clip of the opening night shared on X by an attendee, Meghan introduced her hubby Harry.
She honoured him and also gushed about her return to Canada just hours after they landed.
Meghan said: “I was not planning on speaking tonight. We just arrived a couple of hours ago and I touched Canadian soil and I went, ‘feels like home.’
“We are so excited and we also recognise most of you are probably so exhausted from how much travel you’ve done, how much adrenaline you have pumping, how excited you are for what is going to be one of the most outstanding, memorable, unforgettable, and connected weeks probably for you and your families.
“We are just thrilled to be here and I would be remiss if I didn’t take the opportunity to introduce someone who means a lot to me and I know means quite a lot to all of you.
“You will see him throughout this week. You will see him at the games, you will see him probably curling with you and cheering you on at wheelchair basketball.”
She also revealed how Harry has juggled organising the Invictus Games while fathering Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Meghan continued: “With families…the big rush in the morning and getting ready for school and packing the lunchboxes and making breakfast and my husband is in all of that with all of us.
“And then he’ll be on his phone, and Archie will be like, ‘Papa, why are you on your phone?’ and he says, ‘Because it’s Invictus, I’m getting ready for Invictus.’
“It means so much to him. You are his family just as we are his family.
“And I hope you recognise how much of his heart he has poured into every single beat that has gotten all of you to this week, that’s going to be spectacular.
“I need you to know that, how much it means to him and how much each of you mean to him.
“It is my entire pleasure and complete honour to introduce to the stage my husband, the father of our very sweet, excited children who are cheering you on from California, Prince Harry, founder of the Invictus Games, the Duke of Sussex.”
