Sports | Prince Harry and Meghan Markle take in Vancouver Canucks game Monday night

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attended the Vancouver Canucks game against the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.

The happy-looking couple sat in a VIP box after Harry dropped the puck in a ceremonial face-off between San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl and Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes. Others in the VIP box included local Indigenous leaders, B.C. Premier David Eby and Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sports Minister Lana Popham.

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The jumbotron highlighted the Duke of Sussex’s Invictus Games that are being held in Whistler and Vancouver from Feb. 8 to Feb. 16, 2025.

Harry is the founder and the patron of the Invictus Games Foundation, which runs the international multi-sport event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women.

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Hertl spoke after the game about the experience.

“I actually had to tell him (to drop the puck) because he keeps holding and smiling,” Hertl said. “I’d say, ‘it’s time to drop it.’ But it’s a cool moment. For sure I will remember that one.”

Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said he, too, had a brief interaction with Prince Harry.

“I gave him a fist bump, I don’t know if you’re allowed to do that. I did it, he did it. He kind of looked at me but he did it,” Tocchet said.

The visit by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Vancouver had not been revealed until the couple appeared at the rink.

Prince Harry is the second member of the Royal Family to attend a Canucks game.

On Oct. 6, 2002, Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, dropped the puck at a Canucks game — when Markus Naslund was captain — against the Sharks and with Wayne Gretzky by her side.

The couple lived in North Saanich on Vancouver Island for three months in 2020 after leaving Britain and the royal life behind.

According to Harry’s book Spare, the couple considered settling in B.C. before they moved to Los Angeles where they now reside with their two children.

At one point, the rumour mill had the royal couple eyeing a waterfront home in Kitsilano, but it was just a rumour.

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— with a file from The Canadian Press

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