Meghan’s kind gesture towards injured athlete: Duchess comes to the aid of German competitor who has been ruled out of the Invictus Games

The Duchess of Sussex showed her protective side today as she came to the aid of an Invictus athlete who had injured himself.

Meghan, 42, attended the Merkur Spiel-Arena this afternoon to catch the Nigeria v Ukraine sitting volleyball game, and fans went wild at her arrival once more. 

But while the Duchess enjoyed the festivities and got into the Invictus spirit by taking selfies with fans, she also showed that the safety and wellbeing of athletes at the Games is of huge importance to her.

A video filmed inside the arena shows the Duchess, dressed in a white cable-knit vest from Ralph Lauren and white skinny trousers, walking across the floor with purpose as she’s led by an aide.

When she reaches the other side of the floor, she stops to lean down to a male athlete in a wheelchair and leans down to have a conversation with him.

The Duchess of Sussex was spotted in a clip filmed from today’s events at the Merkur Spiel-Arena as she went to the aid of an injured German player

Hello! reports the Duchess was checking on the wellbeing of the athlete following his leg injury.

A member of Team Germany told the publication: ‘Meghan was told about Tino’s accident and how upset he was that he could no longer compete.

‘She asked to come and speak with him after being told how upset he was at the accident. It was a lovely gesture and we are very grateful.’

Throughout the week, Meghan has been seen chatting to athletes and their families as she shows her dedication to a cause her husband Prince Harry, 38, holds dear.

A video shared online showed the Duchess walking across the floor to the other side of the arena to meet the athlete

As she arrived in Dusseldorf on Tuesday evening and attended a glitzy friends and family event at a swanky hotel in the city, the Duchess was pictured holding hands with a Ukrainian athlete, Yuliia Paievska (nicknamed ‘Taira’).

The pair looked like old friends as Taira took Meghan’s wrist with her hand and they both beamed as the Duke of Sussex walked alongside them.

Taira, a mother-of-one, was captured by Putin‘s forces last year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and relentlesslt tortured during the 12 weeks she was held captive.

She tells her heartbreaking story in the fifth and final episode of Harry’s Netflix series, Heart of Invictus – and credits the tournament for helping to secure her release.

On the same evening, the mother-of-two had a chat with Nigerian athlete Glory Essien, whom she affectionately called her ‘Nigerian sister’ following her discovery via a genealogy test that she is 43% Nigerian.

It came after husband Prince Harry revealed at the opening ceremony that his wife was cheering on the African nation as he discovered she is 43% Nigerian.

The revelation came on an episode of her Archetypes podcast after Meghan did a genealogy test ‘a couple years ago’.

She vowed to ‘start to dig deeper into all this’ during her discussion with comedians Issa Rae and Ziwe Fumudoh.

Since arriving at the Invictus Games 2023, the Duchess has been in her element with fans and athletes as she gets into the Invictus spirit – and she has sent royal fans wild with her chic outfits.

Earlier today while she attended a NATO meeting with Prince Harru, the mother-of-two, 42, opted for a monochrome ensemble with two-tones of brown, while wearing £1200 wide-leg silk trousers from Gabriel Hearst, which she previously sported to the One Young World roundtable in 2022. 

While she has opted for inexpensive high street looks in her last few appearances, the Duchess went high end today – and paired the look with £165 oversized Miu Miu sunglasses and a £365 Dani Blouse from French designer L’agence. 

Showing off her natural beauty, the royal let her hair long and loose and sported a natural make-up look while boosting her height with £590 heels from Manolo Blahnik.

As Meghan beamed alongside her husband while they met with NATO officials and then headed off to watch the volleyball, her shirt and trousers combo demonstrated yet again that tan, camel and brown shades are her power colours.