Harry's Launch

Camilla Chuckles at Invictus Games Launch

Kate wasn't there, but other royals showed up in force to support Harry's Invictus Games launch

Kate Middleton couldn't make it, but the rest of the royal family turned out in force last night to launch to help Prince Harry launch the Invictus Games, a Paralympic style event for wounded serviceman, based on the Warrior Games in the USA.

And Prince William appeared to be in good form, sharing a joke with his step mother Camilla that had them both in stitches, as this picture shows.

Members of the royal family arrived at the Olympic Park in East London along with the Prime Minister David Cameron, who had hightailed it back from Scotland where he'd been campaigning for the Scottish referendum with other British party leaders.

One of 400 competitors from 30 nations, all of them wounded serviceman, will take part in nine different adapted sports including archery and athletics over the next four days.

Teams have traveled from a diverse range of countries including the USA, Afghanistan, New Zealand, Germany, to take part in the event.

The opening ceremony, which was attended by 6,500 strong crowd, featured Hollywood star Idris Elba and a song specially written for the occasion by Coldplay's Chris Martin. There were also aerial displays by the Red Arrows, and Red Devils parachutists.

Prince Harry took to the stage after being introduced in a video message by first lady Michelle Obama, who told the athletes, "You're inspiring all of us, especially our young people."

The Invictus Games will be taking place over the next four days in London, and are the combination of several years of work by Prince Harry.

Harry admitted in a launch on Tuesday, "I have had some sleepless nights, I think all of us have. There's so many moving parts to this that everything just isn't going to fall into place. Luckily things have fallen into place quicker than if I wasn't involved. We have had some nervous moments ... but there is no going back ino. What we achieved in such a short space of time is fantastic."

26,000 tickets for the event's closing concert, which features performances by the Foo Fighters and James Blunt, sold out in under an hour.

However there are a number of tickets left for some of the other events over the next few days.

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Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

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