Invictus Games: Prince Harry arrives at event without Meghan

Instead it’s been overshadowed by his court defeat against Associated Newspapers and confusion over whether Meghan and their children will be coming to the UK.

Prince Harry’s appearance in the cavernous halls of the NEC was marking the countdown to the Invictus Games, which will be hosted in Birmingham next year.

Whatever the troubles outside, here he was among his own tribe, the people he calls his “second family”.

He praised the Invictus competitors as “remarkable men and women who have served their countries and who continue to show us what courage really looks like”.

While he faced his own adversity this week, he seemed relaxed and patiently worked his away around the huge exhibition hall, where demonstrations of sports had been set up, chatting to competitors and their families.

In a sprit of inclusion, he also demonstrated that there was now a British Sign Language sign for the Invictus Games.

Prince Harry tried his hand at pickleball, one of the Invictus sports, which combines tennis, table tennis and badminton.

He also joined in with wheelchair rugby, alongside broadcaster Ade Adepitan.

Prince Harry had thrown an impressive pass, without looking.

Adepitan said he told Harry to take the credit: “I mean, he said to me at the end ‘it was just a throw and hope’ but I said ‘style it out, style it out,’ that was done on purpose.”