Prince Harry And Meghan Markle's Fundraiser Cancellation Is Causing Quite A Stir
People are not happy after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle cancelled a fundraiser which was meant to help wounded veterans. The event was expected to raise at least £1 million for the Invictus Games Foundation, which was founded by Prince Harry.
The music and comedy show was slated to take place in June 2021 in California, most likely at The Hollywood Bowl. Harry and Meghan were slated to make speeches at the event, and Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran were expected to perform. Critics claimed that the event was cancelled as it was set to air on Amazon, which would present a conflict as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently inked a multi-million dollar deal with Netflix, a competitor of Amazon.
The Daily Mail reported that the couple's legal team said that the event was actually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "The true position is that the format of the event was no longer viable in light of COVID-19," said the lawyers. "These factors were separate to and independent of our client's deal with Netflix."
This isn't the first setback for the Invictus Games Foundation this year
A spokesperson for Invictus backed this up, saying, "The event was shelved because the primary revenue generator was ticket sales from a live concert in Los Angeles in the spring of 2021. Given current circumstances with COVID, the event needed to be reconceptualized. This was an independent decision made prior to a partnership with Netflix. The duke remains committed as ever to the Invictus Games."
This isn't the first setback the Invictus Games Foundation has seen this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, Prince Harry announced that the Invictus Games, which were supposed to be held in May of this year, would be postponed until 2021. "This was an incredibly difficult decision for all of us to have to make," he said in a YouTube video. "And I'm so grateful for everybody that's worked so hard over the past couple of weeks to try to find any alternative to try and carry on these Games in a different way — in a safe way."