Kate Middleton participated in a wheelchair rugby game on Thursday to promote inclusivity in sports. The Princess of Wales took over as patron of the Rugby Football League when Prince Harry left his royal duties behind, and like the prince, she showed a great passion for the England Physical Disability Rugby League (PRDL). According to a report by PEOPLE, the event was all about demonstrating the empowering and healing properties of sports for people of all backgrounds.
Middleton met up with members of the PRDL in Hull, England on Thursday, joining them for a skill-training session and some non-competitive matches. She seemed to get really into it, as photos from the scene show her cheering and pushing her chair around the indoor gymnasium. The event was hosted by the Rugby Football League, Hull FC and the University of Hull, and it included some students as well. Members of the PRDL presented her with honorary jerseys for her children, and she reportedly told them that all three kids loved watching the high-intensity sport.
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The PRDL plays a full-contact version of rugby adapted for players with physical disabilities. Already a notoriously brutal sport, rugby becomes even more dangerous in some ways when wheelchairs are involved because of the moving metal parts, presenting the potential for pinched or broken fingers or other extremities. In the photos, Middleton even wore athletic tape over her fingers.
The role of patron of the Rugby Football League is one of the many duties divided among working royals after Prince Harry moved from England to the U.S. with his wife Meghan Markle – and perhaps one of the most near and dear to the prince’s heart. The prince has a well-documented love for sports and a passion for inclusivity, as exemplified in his own passion project, the Invictus Games. The annual sporting event is a venue for military veterans with disabilities to compete, and it has been growing every year.
As it happens, Prince Harry and his work have been in the headlines this summer since Netflix released a docu-series called Heart of Invictus. It tells the story of the competition as it follows one season’s worth of training, organizing and competition. The show is available now on Netflix.
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