By Chiara Fiorillo & Laura Elston
Prince Harry has made a surprise appearance on screen at the Sport Gives Back Awards in honour of a triple amputee Afghanistan veteran.
In a video message paid at the event in London, the Duke of Sussex paid tribute to Invictus medal-winning cyclist and fellow former soldier Josh Boggi, who won the Unconquered category. It was Harry's second video appearance on Wednesday, coming on the same day he lost a High Court challenge against the Home Office over a decision to change the level of his personal security when he visits the UK.
The duke, whoalso recorded an earlier message appealing for nominations for the WellChild Awards, is to seek to appeal against the ruling, with his lawyers saying Harry “hopes he will obtain justice”. At the High Court, it was revealed that Harry said he faced a greater risk than his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, with “additional layers of racism and extremism”, in a letter he previously wrote to the then-Cabinet Secretary expressing his “disbelief” over his security arrangements.
And it emerged that US authorities concluded there was enough evidence to arrest two people for “reckless endangerment” after the Sussexes said they experienced a “near-catastrophic” car chase in New York involving paparazzi in 2023. The royal family has had a difficult start to 2024, with the King being treated for cancer, the Princess of Wales undergoing abdominal surgery and the sudden death, announced on Tuesday, of Lady Gabriella Kingston’s husband Thomas Kingston at the age of 45.
Harry, who undertook two frontline tours of Afghanistan, praised Boggi for being the “personification of resilience”. “Josh, you are a truly remarkable human,” the duke said. “There is no one in the world who deserves this more; you are the personification of resilience. Congratulations mate.”
Boggi was an army corporal when he lost both legs and his right arm after stepping on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2010. He went on to develop a love of cycling during his recovery and now works with other wounded and sick service personnel.
Boggi, who met Harry and the now-Prince of Wales at a Help the Heroes Recovery Centre in 2013, competed in the Invictus Games, founded by Harry, and is now Invictus’s community liaison executive. Boggi also completed the 3,000-mile Race Across America team cycling challenge in record time and became the first triple amputee rescue scuba diver.
The awards celebrate the work of charities, organisations, and individuals who change lives through sport. Stars Sir Mo Farah, Dame Kelly Holmes, Frank Lampard and Ellie Simmonds were among those who attended.
The Sport Gives Back ceremony will be broadcast on ITV on Sunday, March 24. In his WellChild message, Harry, the charity’s patron, hailed the “extraordinary strength and spirit” of young people with complex medical conditions.
He looked relaxed in a grey shirt and wearing his leather cord necklace in the video which appeared to have been filmed at his home in California. The duke urged the public to put forward the names of the “remarkable individuals who inspire you” for WellChild’s 2024 awards.