Meghan and Harry join crowds at Invictus Games after walking in holding hands

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex cheered on athletes and handed out medals to children at the Invictus Games on Wednesday.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex watch wheelchair basketball at the Merkur Spiel-Arena (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Wire)

Meghan and Harry cheered on athletes in among the crowds at the Invictus Games after walking in hand in hand.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were sitting side-by-side clapping and also reacting to the game tensely as they watched the wheelchair basketball with Australia supporters on Wednesday morning in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Harry hugged a competitor and shook hands with another during the morning.

The pair were all smiles as they held hands while walking in the Merkur Spiel-Arena, Harry in an Invictus Games polo top and trousers and Meghan wearing a black top with white shorts and a white cardigan with gold buttons.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex handed out medals to children on the basketball court and the couple also posed for photographs with others at the event.

It comes after Meghan arrived late at the Invictus Games on Tuesday, saying she had to spend more time getting their “little ones settled at home”.

Meghan and Harry appeared on a stage where the duchess made an impromptu speech and described the Invictus Games as an “amazing event”, and joked with the audience as she ran slightly late.

The pair were in high spirits as they spoke during the event’s party for friends and family of the competitors.

The duchess, who was wearing a black dress, added she would one day like to bring her children to the games.

Meghan travelled from the Sussexes’ home in California to the German city, where Harry launched the sporting event for wounded military personnel and veterans on Saturday night.

The couple appeared in public together for the first time at the Toronto Invictus Games in 2017, pictured hand in hand at a wheelchair tennis event.

It is likely that Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland is looking after the Sussexes’ young children Archie and Lilibet at their home in Montecito, California.

Harry was pictured earlier on Tuesday sharing a joke with TV presenter and Invictus Games medallist JJ Chalmers during the wheelchair basketball competition, after taking part in some “seat dancing”.

On Monday, Harry, the founding patron of the Invictus Games, warmly embraced a wheelchair rugby player by kissing him on the head.

He watched matches in an eight-team wheelchair rugby knockout tournament, then presented medals and spoke to players after Team USA defeated the United Kingdom 21-13 in the final.

His attendance at the games comes after a brief visit to the UK, where he attended the WellChild Awards and visited St George’s Chapel in Windsor on the anniversary of the death of his grandmother, the late Queen.