Prince Harry meets Bon Jovi for Invictus Games project amid royal farewell
Prince Harry, who asked to be known as just "Harry" after choosing to step back from his senior royal family role, teamed up with rock legend Jon Bon Jovi to support the Invictus Games, an event Harry founded that remains close to his heart. He met the singer at Abbey Road Studios in London during a stop on his farewell tour.
The duo was supporting the Invictus choir, who sang a remix of "Unbroken," Bon Jovi's song about the struggles service members face after leaving the military. The Invictus Games Foundation held its first event in 2014 with multi-sport competitions for injured, sick, or wounded armed services personnel and veterans.
Speaking to CBS News' Ian Lee, choir members agreed that the song was both powerful and personal.
On February 28th, The Duke of Sussex will visit @AbbeyRoad Studios to meet Jon @BonJovi and members of the @InvictusGChoir, who are recording a special single Unbroken in aid of @WeAreInvictus!
— Invictus Games Foundation (@WeAreInvictus) February 20, 2020
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"There's a few lines in the song – I was involved in an IED 30 years ago, and I've still got ringing in my ears," one service member, Gavin Lewis said, referring to the lyric "I got this painful ringing in my ear."
"The last lines for me - where he says, 'When you ask me if it was worth it and you say yeah I'd do it all again.' And actually that's quite hard to say out loud," another veteran, Cathy Braddick-Hughes said.
The singer himself said that after working with the Invictus choir, he felt the song accomplished its goal of making the soldiers proud.
"When I wrote it, it had to be honest. I couldn't sugarcoat anything if I was going to ask them to sing it," Bon Jovi said.
The service members in the choir also cited Harry as an "inspiration" to them.
"He's an ex-soldier," one said. "And he's still a massive part of our family. And he understands."
Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, will join him on March 5 for one of her last official engagements as they bid farewell to royal life. The couple is expected to set up their life in Canada where the government recently announced it will not be paying for their security fees, citing the loss of their "Internationally Protected Persons" status.