Uganda’s military has reversed its decision to quit the 2027 Invictus Games, saying it received assurances that King Charles III had no objection to the competition founded by his son Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex. The announcement of that turnaround came in a post on Monday from Col. Chris Magezi, acting director of defence public information for the Uganda People’s Defence Force, dated September 14, 2026. The king’s household had stepped in to defuse an unlikely diplomatic tangle.
A telephone call with Sir Clive Alderton, principal private secretary to the king and queen, preceded the decision by Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda’s chief of defence forces, to restore the country’s place at the Games in Birmingham, Magezi wrote. Charles, he added, “has no problem with Uganda’s participation in the Invictus Games, and encouraged the [Chief of Defence Forces] CDF to proceed with preparations.”
The king was “moved by General Kainerugaba’s sensitive consideration of the King’s opinion on the upcoming Invictus Games organised by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex,” according to the post. Buckingham Palace had supplied clarity that Kainerugaba welcomed along with the message itself, and he said the force would restart its preparations. Fewer than seven days had passed since the announcement of the withdrawal.
Why Uganda Walked Away
Kainerugaba said in a September 9 post on X that he did not want Uganda’s role at the Games taken as opposition to Charles, a monarch he described as deeply revered in the country. “We shall not participate in anything that does not have His Majesty’s approval,” he wrote on X.
Asked by the Times what had motivated the move, Kainerugaba said: “I have factions in the Ministry of Defence that support that Harry-Meghan nonsense. I had to quash it straight away. I support the monarch. Period.”
An official letter, sent on Charles’ behalf to government departments, military bodies and Lord Lieutenants, was what commentators pointed to as the trigger for the pullout. The Office of the Lord Chamberlain issued it, restating that Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, are not working royals and would not use their HRH styles. Their charitable work, it said, is “a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity,” and their position “akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests.”
That guidance was what Harry’s team blamed for the withdrawal, while Buckingham Palace said the letter had been issued simply to clarify the couple’s status for military and government departments. A different account came from the force itself in its September 14 post: the pullout, it said, had followed palace wording describing the Invictus Games as a private charity rather than an official initiative of the royal family.
Harry’s 26th Invictus Nation
Uganda’s involvement is recent. The country signed on on July 7, entering the Invictus community as its 26th participating nation, the second African country and the first from East Africa to take part. A partnership between the defence force and the Invictus Games Foundation brought it in, intended to broaden rehabilitation and adaptive sports work for wounded service members.
Rob Owen, the foundation’s chief executive, said at the time: “We are delighted to welcome Uganda into the Invictus Community as our 26th member.” Uganda’s defence minister, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, attended the London event and said the country was honored to become part of a network that recognizes the transformative power of sport. Harry was at the event beside him, the force’s own account said, though the foundation’s announcement makes no mention of him.
The September reversal drew a welcome from Owen, who said Uganda would remain part of the Invictus community and compete in Birmingham, then less than 300 days away. The multisport competition was launched by Harry in 2014 for military personnel and veterans who are wounded, injured or sick. Organizers have scheduled the Birmingham Games for July 10 to 17, 2027, with 23 sports on the program; three of them are new: e-sport, pickleball and laser run.
The General Behind the U-Turn
President Yoweri Museveni, who turned 82 on September 15, is Kainerugaba’s father, and the general is his eldest son. He took up the post of chief of defence forces in March 2024. Widely regarded as his father’s likely successor, he declared a 2031 presidential bid in August, having earlier set his sights on 2026 before switching. He and Harry share an alma mater, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Kainerugaba is also a provocative presence on social media. He has used X to threaten an invasion of neighboring Kenya and to aim threats at Bobi Wine, Museveni’s main political rival.
Interest in the episode spread well beyond royal circles, as a gauge of how far royal soft power still reaches: one phone call redirected an African military’s public stance, and no pressure or economic leverage was applied. When it walked out, Uganda had spent barely two months as the foundation’s newest member. It was back inside a week.
None of the guidance that set off the row has shifted. The Lord Chamberlain’s letter stands, the palace has not revised its description of the couple’s work, and it has not said whether the king will go to Birmingham. Both his sons, Prince William and Harry, were with him when he attended the opening ceremony of the first Invictus Games in London in September 2014.