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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Jennifer Newton

Prince Harry cheers on military veterans as he's spotted for first time since UK trip

Prince Harry has been spotted mingling with spectators at a US sporting event for wounded military veterans.

It is his first public appearance since he returned home following a trip to the UK last week.

He joined the crowds at the Warrior Games in the Californian city of San Diego and mingled with spectators watching former service personnel taking part in a volleyball match.

Harry also looked relaxed as he posed with gold medal winners from the United States Special Operations Command.

The Warrior Games sees teams from across the US military compete in a number of sports including volleyball, swimming and archery.

Prince Harry at the Warrior Games in San Diego (DoD Warrior Games)

A trip to the Games in Florida in 2013 is said to have inspired Harry to set up his own Invictus Games, which also sees military veterans compete in sporting competitions.

The next Invictus Games is set to take place in September in the German city of Dusseldorf.

It comes after Harry dashed back to the US to be with his family after visiting the UK to give evidence in his trial against MGN Ltd, in which he faced cross-examination and became the first royal to take the stand since the 1890s.

And on his flight back to California from London, it emerged he left a flight attendant a surprise gift.

Harry watched a volleyball match (DoD Warrior Games)

It appears he gave a free copy of his tell-all memoir, Spare, to Holden Pattern, a member of the cabin crew who looked after him on the flight across the Atlantic.

A gleeful Holden shared a picture of himself posing with a beaming Harry onboard the American Airlines flight on TikTok, and said in a second snap that he had found the book "in my luggage that a passenger gave to me".

Holden, who describes himself as a travel influencer, said Prince Harry was his "passenger prince". Harry is seen in the snap dressed casually in a simple black T-shirt and jeans.

Harry with a flight attendant on his flight back to the US (@HOLDENPATTERN)
Holden shared this second snap showing the book which he said had been left in his luggage (@HOLDENPATTERN)

The Duke is said to have landed in California on Thursday evening, having left the UK around lunchtime that day.

His book Spare sent shockwaves through the royal world when it was released in January.

On its pages, Harry made a series of bombshell claims about his family - detailing an alleged physical altercation with his brother Prince William and saying he learnt of the late Queen's death via the BBC News website.

An MGN spokesperson said: "Where historical wrongdoing has taken place, we have made admissions, take full responsibility and apologise unreservedly, but we will vigorously defend against allegations of wrongdoing where our journalists acted lawfully.

"MGN is now part of a very different company. We are committed to acting with integrity and our objective in this trial is to allow both the business and our journalists to move forward from events that took place many years ago."

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