Prince Harry took part in a skydive in Canada on Friday before calling his wife, Meghan Markle, who is in England. The Duke of Sussex was caught on video parachuting from a plane north of Toronto to raise money for two veteran charities and fulfil a promise he made to a 102-year-old former paratrooper last year.
Promise to a 102-year-old veteran
The duke made the promise to veteran Ed Marshall last November during a visit to the veterans centre at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. Medical professionals did not allow the 102-year-old veteran to make the jump, so his grandson, Mailey, stepped in and skydived alongside the Duke. Ed was there to support them on the flight, cheering from the plane.
Harry said after the flight: “Ed’s been really excited about this. There’s no version where you can let a 102-year-old veteran down. He was devastated that he couldn’t jump, but it was great to have him in the back. They did put a parachute on him. We did think that he was probably going to jump by himself — glad he didn’t, and he’s still here! And he’s going to be 103 in a few months’ time.”
Call to the Duchess
According to CTV News, which covered the moment, Harry’s first call was to the duchess. The interviewer said: “We noticed you called your wife, the Duchess, immediately afterwards,” before asking him whether he had to convince her to take part in the skydive.
Harry said: “I didn’t have to convince her, but she was relieved once we were down. It took quite a while to get up, so I think she was like, ‘Are they down yet? Are they down yet?’”
Harry’s trip to Canada came after a series of appearances in New York this week for causes close to his heart.
