Prince Harry plays pickleball with schoolchildren as royal family faces Earl Spencer allegations
Prince Harry plays pickleball with schoolchildren as royal family faces Earl Spencer allegations
Izzie AddisonFri, September 18, 2026 at 5:53 PM UTC
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The Duke of Sussex was seen in upbeat spirits as he played pickleball with school pupils on Friday, against the backdrop of fresh controversy surrounding claims made by Earl Spencer about the royal family.
Harry visited children at Ninestiles, an Academy in Birmingham, to inaugurate Inspire, a new educational programme launched by the Invictus Games.
Dressed in a dark polo shirt and casual jeans, the duke appeared at ease, diving for returns during games with the pupils and answering questions from the young people.
Participating in rallies alongside pupils from Year 7 and Year 11, Harry joked that his back hurt after reaching for a low shot, and shouted "nice" when a student won a point.
When asked by a student during a question-and-answer session to name a person who inspires him, the duke gave his answer.
Harry played pickleball with children at a school in Birmingham on Friday (AFP/Getty)
Harry replied: "It’s not a single person, it’s a whole group of people. And it’s not always the people you probably think it is."
Gesturing toward competitors from the Invictus Games, he stated: "It’s these guys. This Invictus community of people who get knocked down but keep getting back up."
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The visit followed the duke's first public appearance since his return to the UK, having attended an Invictus Games function on Thursday evening where he described his recent experiences as "eventful".
Speaking at Thursday's event, Harry remarked: "It’s wonderful to be back on British soil."
His public appearances coincided with ongoing serialisation of a book about his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, written by his uncle Earl Spencer, which includes serious allegations directed at the King.
In a segment of a BBC interview aired on Friday evening, Harry’s uncle maintained he was "telling the truth" regarding the claim Charles had said "we’ll forget her soon enough" shortly after Diana died.
Earl Spencer has insisted he is 'telling the truth' about Charles' reaction to Diana's death (PA)
The earl said: "(The King) went ballistic, would be the right term, and started really going for my family as a whole, about their sense of duty, not being adequate enough, and ranted for a while, I have no idea how long, but it was a significant period, and I just listened.
"And then he stopped, and I thought, ‘Oh now he’s going to pull himself together and say something more appropriate’, and then he said, ‘We’ll forget her soon enough’."
The remarks from the earl’s upcoming memoir about his sister drew an "unprecedented" reply from Buckingham Palace, which stated that "the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason".
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
