Uh oh. Prince Harry‘s getting called out for potentially shady financials for his charity, Invictus Games!
The 2025 Invictus Games, which took place in Canada, are coming under fire. The event included 543 participants and cost $63.2 million. That’s about $118,000 per veteran competitor. That’s a LOT of money! But folks are now skeptical that the money is going to the appropriate places!
Rachel Maxwell, a former finance professional, did some digging and shared a screen grab of the very redacted budget to her Montecito Minimalist Instagram. The paperwork was originally downloadable from the Games’ website, but the website now requires a Dropbox account, which would allow the organization to track who accessed it. All throughout the documents, information related to the event’s budget is blacked out. She’s urging the org to release the unredacted paperwork.
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Check it out:
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Hmm.
On the massive budget of the event, she told NewsNation earlier this month:
“That’s life-changing money. Would the veterans have preferred $117,000 to purchase new prosthetics, to make their house ADA compliant, to purchase vehicles that could support their wheelchairs?”
It’s far higher than similar events. The U.S. Warrior Games run with about $2 million a year, and other competitions are way lower! So, why does Harry need several million, and why not be upfront about what it’s all being spent on?? That’s the real concern.
You see, per tax returns on file, the Canadian federal government contributed $15 million through Veterans Affairs Canada, and the Province of British Columbia contributed another $15 million through its Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Sport. That means the public picked up half the tab for the event! The rest of the funding came from 40 corporate partners and about $2.6 million in individual donations. The public money was given to Vancouver Whistler Games Corporation, which then paid a licensing fee to the Invictus Games Foundation, which owns and licenses the brand. But this licensing fee was redacted in the paperwork, among other odd discoveries. Huh…
Royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Radar Online on Tuesday:
“The question I have is — Does Prince Harry use the Invictus Games as a tax write-off, and is he making money off the backs of veterans? If he’s not, there should be full disclosure that he is not. Show us that he’s not profiting.”
Seriously, where is the money going?! Why are they redacting that info??
In Tom Bower‘s new book Betrayal, it’s alleged Invictus money gets put towards private jets, fancy hotels, and transportation for Harry and Meghan. Not the best use of the funds, considering the optics!
According to NewsNation, in 2024, the foundation cut its direct grants to veteran orgs by a shocking 63% — and that same year, the foundation’s income rose 41%! So, yeah, you can see why there are starting to be some questions!
This money controversy comes as there’s a growing feeling that Harry isn’t as useful to the org as he once was — and certainly not with his wife, Meghan Markle, around, a source dished:
“The duke has become an increasingly divisive figure, particularly in the Armed Forces. And that is not good for Invictus.”
Oof. Harry and Meghan inked some impressive business deals after leaving the royal family, but they’ve been struggling to maintain any success. They even had to downgrade their Archewell Foundation to Archewell Philanthropies late last year amid rumors they were going to be investigated in the US over financial discrepancies and rising expenses! At the time, a rep for the couple denied there was ever an investigation and the charity clarified that missing money from their 2022 tax return was accounted for in its 2023 filings. Messy, though!
It doesn’t appear as though Harry or his team have acknowledged these allegations yet. We sure hope there’s nothing to worry about. We’d HATE to see an impactful mission aimed at helping wounded warriors be embroiled in an icky fight about money! Especially not with a royal in the mix!
With this and other legal issues weighing on Harry, it’s only going to make it harder to get back into the royal fold, Fordwich noted:
“It’s the cumulative fallout that is going to matter. The cumulative fallout is what will further falter any attempt to reconcile with the royal family. They want to distance themselves from negative personas.”
Drama really follows Harry and Meg everywhere…
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[Image via WENN]
