If the Duke of Sussex was stressed by any of the ongoing saga surrounding his UK visit, he certainly didn't let it show as he put his sporting prowess to the test at the One Year To Go event for the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027
In fact, he appeared more at home than ever as I witnessed him marching onto the pickleball pitch with confidence after shortly arriving at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), which will host the tournament in the West Midlands city next year.
Clad in his Invictus polo top and armed with a racket in his hand, he shot a jokey "I'm watching you" gesture before pretending to skip a handshake with the opposing team, which included his friend and Invictus competitor, Dave Henson.
Rarely keeping his eye off the ball, the Prince proved he was a dab hand at the sport, one of three new events to be introduced for the Birmingham games. We got a glimpse of Harry's competitive side as he had a go at Laser Run – another addition.
The sport involves running around an indoor track and shooting at targets with laser pistols. At one point, he came racing past us in the media pen, closely flanked by presenter and former competitor JJ Chalmers, a burst of his distinctive cackle heard as he ran towards the pistol shooting.
Inbetween running from one media pen to another, I spied Birmingham's own Alison Hammond, before Harry enveloped her in a big hug. Sadly, they didn't decide to recreate Alison's viral Bake Off moment, which Harry hilariously impersonated on The Stephen Colbert Show last year.
© Getty ImagesWhile speculation surrounding Meghan, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet travelling to the UK continues to mount, the focus for Harry was predominantly on the Invictus Games, which is widely regarded as his proverbial baby.
Mention of his children cropped up just once as he was interviewed by Alison for ITV's This Morning, with Harry telling her: "By the way my kids loved you in the Bake Off – absolutely love it. I love it as well."
© Danielle StaceyAlison then asked: "Your kids and Meghan must be so proud of you. Do they tell you every day?”
Harry replied: "They don't tell me every day that they're proud of me but yeah, I'm proud of them, they're proud of me, I love my family."
© AFP via Getty ImagesThe Duke was then joined by TV presenter Ade Adepitan for a game of wheelchair rugby. Harry was animated throughout as he raced around the court, crashing into opponents with giggles and scoring tries. Watch below.
Impressively, he threw a blind pass over his head straight into the arms of a teammate, who crossed the try-line. There were high-fives swapped at the end of the match before Harry posed happily for a group photo.
While the Duke appeared somewhat deflated during a speech at Chatham House in London on Tuesday (having learned that he had lost his High Court privacy battle just moments before), today he was more hopeful.
The word resilience popped up several times as he said: "This is just the warm-up, I think we're all in for something truly extraordinary.
"Of course, while the Games are famous for the competition, they have always been about more than medals.
© Getty Images"At the heart of Invictus are the competitors – remarkable men and women who have served their countries and who continue to show us what courage really looks like."
He added: "That resilience in this community, in every individual that turns up to the Invictus Games, all those people that have served our 26 nations, is something that every community in this country and every community around the world can take some strength from.
"The world has a lot of troubles but when it comes to national resilience let's use this moment, the next 365 days, to lean on and learn from the Invictus community."
While there have been some eyebrow-raising headlines in recent days, the countdown event radiated a sense of warmth and community.
The Games typically only take place every two years, but Harry makes sure to check in consistently with competitors and its supporters.
Among the guests were at Friday's event were representatives and families from Scotty's Little Soldiers, which supports bereaved military children.
"The Duke is a huge supporter of Scotty's, he's been involved with us from really early on in our journey," Carla Rose, the charity's Head of Service, told me.
"He takes a lot of time out to find out what we're doing, he gets regular updates from us. He always has so many questions about what we're doing, about what the young people are doing and achieving, and he's taken time to come to our online events and in-person events to meet the young people. They have a real connection with him, which is fantastic to see."
A year is a long time on the royal beat, but it looks set to be a full circle moment for Harry when the Invictus Games returns to the UK. Whether that will include support from members of the royal family like we saw in 2014, only time will tell.
