Prince Harry Has ‘Created Extraordinary Opportunities’ for Invictus Games Family, CEO Says (Exclusive)

At the Invictus Games, Prince Harry’s mission for veterans and armed forces members helps the wounded and sick “feel seen and heard.”

That’s the view of the outgoing head of the Duke of Sussex’s Invictus Games Foundation, Dominic Reid, who is overseeing his last games next week in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada.

A former British army captain, Prince Harry was inspired to start the Invictus Games after returning from Afghanistan with injured allies and then seeing the U.S. armed forces’ Warrior Games in 2013. The following year, the Invictus Games were born.

“It is very important to him as a soldier, it’s very important to him as a person,” Reid tells PEOPLE. “He has absolutely been the person giving guidance and direction. That has been a joy to be involved with.”

A key moment, he says, was when Harry addressed a briefing of NATO’s military committee via video link in Oct. 2024, “which was an extraordinary place to find ourselves,” Reid says.

Reid says Harry “told how Invictus Games was to him for his recovery for him, for his journey. There’s a really strong synergy between him and the Foundation, and it’s a great thing. Most people see that and respond warmly to it.”

“We all get something from it for our own reasons,” he adds. “But he has created extraordinary opportunities to an extraordinary number of people. They feel seen and heard and cared about.”

When the Invictus Games kick off with the opening ceremony — starring Chris Martin from Coldplay, Katy Perry and Noah Kahan — on Feb. 8, among the 23 countries taking part will be new nations in Lithuania and Brazil. Returning after their first games in Dusseldorf, Germany in 2023 is a team from Nigeria.

Nigeria, which Harry and wife Meghan Markle visited in May 2024, is starting work on the new Invictus Centre in Abuja, which will be a global first for the foundation. Reid says of their preparations, “They have done training camps in Colorado and have been exposed to this,” of the snowy conditions not usually associated with West Africa.

For Reid, the Invictus Games in Canada mark a perfectly poignant last contest as CEO. He has been hoping for a winter version of the competition almost since the event’s inception.

“I’ve been trying to get this to happen for ten years,” he says. “For me, it is fantastic. I know there is a fantastic amount that winter sports have to offer – not only in the environment that people find themselves in but also the whole approach to calculated risk-taking that is such an important part of peoples’ recovery.”

Over the last decade of his tenure, the enduring memories “are all emotional,” Reid says. “They are all about seeing peoples’ lives change in front of you, which is an honor and a privilege. Some of the interactions with the Duke, who’s been incredibly supportive of the games and of me personally. It has been an extraordinary ride.”

In the countries that are sending teams, he says, “We have made a significant impact in the way in which disability is perceived. We have changed notions around service – it’s a really powerful thing that’s been done.”

“We talk about changing lives and saving lives,” he says. “And a piece of research we did in Dusseldorf: 10% of a group of people interviewed said they were not confident they would be here if it wasn’t for what they had got from Invictus. That piece of research demonstrates that we have had an impact. That is very sobering.”

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After Vancouver and Whistler, the next games will head back to the U.K., to Birmingham.

“It is significant for it to come back to the U.K. Our wounded, injured and sick were all repatriated to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham,” says Reid. “It will have real power. We do have an extraordinary, strong pipeline.”

And it won’t stop there. Reid expects to have two formal expressions of interest about the 2029 Invictus Games while he is in Canada.

“We have ideas of where we might go in 2031,” he says. “The fact that we have that pipeline is amazing. If you were to ask another major international sports event if they would like that kind of pipeline, they would probably say, ‘Yes.’ ”

Reid is traveling with his successor Rob Owen, “who will do a fantastic job taking over.” Reid ends his tenure on February 28, 2025.