A prince in the “Current Sports Studio”, there was something there? Indeed, even if it wasn’t a real royal. The boxer Norbert Grupe only called himself that, Prince Wilhelm of Homburg, to be precise.
And he went down in the show’s history as the laziest talk guest. Moderator Rainer Günzler had previously come down on him quite harshly in a newspaper article, Grupe, the pseudo-prince, the “Box Beatle”, took revenge by remaining silent for minutes and not answering any of Günzler’s questions.
Of course things looked different late on Saturday evening. The prince was shocked when Kathrin Müller-Hohenstein shifted her tone of introduction up an octave due to her royal excitement. “There’s no evening like any other,” that’s what she and colleague Sven Voss said.
And that didn’t mean the 1:4 fiasco of the German national soccer team against Japan, but – of course – the Duke Of Essex, who, in addition to the athletes Angelo Anderson and Jens Niemeyer, also brought Defense Minister Boris Pistorius with him.
It was already clear that Prince Harry, in contrast to the Prince of Homburg, was not one to mince his words, and so the discussion round developed into a solid PR event for the Invictus Games.
Prince Harry, himself a soldier deployed in Afghanistan, launched the event in 2014, a sports competition for soldiers who have suffered injuries to their body and soul during combat operations. The games will take place in Düsseldorf until September 16th, marking the first time in Germany. At the opening, the prince quotes President John F. Kennedy: “I am a Düsseldorfer”.
The Federal Minister of Defense stated that he wanted to see as much of the competition as possible in the coming week, which is a given for Prince Harry as the spiritual father of this event. “I remember coming back from Afghanistan and being in the helicopter with wounded people,” Prince Harry recalled, “to even be faced with something like that – it changes your life.
I knew I had to do something.” It took him almost five years to be able to talk about his experiences. Jens Niemeyer, who will be competing in several disciplines this week, also knows the feeling that his wife helped him through the difficult times – and the community around the Invictus Games.
Boris Pistorius reacted with incomprehension to the critical voices on the sidelines of the event, which is also sponsored by companies in the defense industry: “War is not glorified here, on the contrary, it is shown here what a horror it is. Soldiers are role models , which show how you can fight your way back into life through sport.”
The games have grown in size in recent years, with countries such as Colombia and Nigeria recently joining. “It is important to approach other people,” said Prince Harry about the importance of the event. “The community, the sense of community is important. This creates a domino effect. And of course the family. I think without the support of the family no one would be here.”
What helped him to cope mentally with what he had experienced? “To be honest, it was precisely these Invictus Games. Having this competition launched was a big help for me.” His wish for the coming week? “Smiling faces and lots of high-fives!”
At the end of the show, the eagerly awaited goal wall finale. “How do I get the ball into the hole?” was the crucial Prince question, while Kathrin Müller-Hohenstein fantasized about possible six-hit records. More realistically, the question of what the penalty is for zero hits is the answer: Prince Harry would have to wear a German jersey.
The end of the song: Pistorius sank a solid two hits in the bottom right, everyone else – including Prince Harry – completely failed. Because he didn’t have a jersey, the prince had to put on a Mainz fan scarf. It could have been worse.
