Follow Uganda: step back from Invictus Birmingham 2027 out of respect for the King
The Issue
On 9 September 2026, Uganda did something no other Invictus nation had done.
Two months after joining the Invictus community and confirming a team for the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027, Uganda's Chief of Defence Forces announced that his country would not take part after all. His reason was plain: Uganda would not allow its participation to be seen as opposing King Charles III.
Nobody asked Uganda to do this. Buckingham Palace has said nothing. Uganda looked at the situation, decided that respect for the King was worth more than a week in the spotlight, and acted.
I am asking the other 25 Invictus nations to consider doing the same, starting with the four countries where the King is head of state: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Why this matters
The King is a monarch. He is a head of state, and for the realms he is their head of state. He is also a father. Any one of those would be reason enough for a government to ask whether Birmingham 2027 is the right stage for its wounded service personnel to stand on. Taken together, they answer the question.
Participation is not neutral. When a national team marches in behind its flag, it lends its country's name to the event and to everyone associated with it. Uganda understood that. Its decision deserves to be noticed, and it deserves company.
What about the veterans?
This is the first objection people raise, and it is a fair one. Here is the answer.
Stepping back from one event does not end anyone's recovery. Every nation that competes at Invictus selects its team through a national recovery programme, from Soldier On in Canada to the Warrior Games in the United States, and the Invictus Games Foundation itself describes the Games as one part of a year-round community. Recovery through sport does not require the biggest stadium, the most cameras or the most expensive week of the year. It needs quiet, consistent support, close to home, with the attention kept where it belongs: on the men and women who served, not on the celebrity that follows the Games from city to city.
Every nation has cheaper, quieter options that put competitors first. Uganda has just shown that choosing them can be done with dignity.
What we are asking
That each Invictus nation formally review its participation in the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027 in light of Uganda's decision.
That the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, whose head of state is the King, lead that review and announce their conclusions publicly.
That any nation choosing to step back commits, in the same announcement, to funding and expanding its own recovery-through-sport programme for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans.
Uganda did not wait for permission. It led. Please sign, share, and ask your own government to do the same.
86
The Issue
On 9 September 2026, Uganda did something no other Invictus nation had done.
Two months after joining the Invictus community and confirming a team for the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027, Uganda's Chief of Defence Forces announced that his country would not take part after all. His reason was plain: Uganda would not allow its participation to be seen as opposing King Charles III.
Nobody asked Uganda to do this. Buckingham Palace has said nothing. Uganda looked at the situation, decided that respect for the King was worth more than a week in the spotlight, and acted.
I am asking the other 25 Invictus nations to consider doing the same, starting with the four countries where the King is head of state: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Why this matters
The King is a monarch. He is a head of state, and for the realms he is their head of state. He is also a father. Any one of those would be reason enough for a government to ask whether Birmingham 2027 is the right stage for its wounded service personnel to stand on. Taken together, they answer the question.
Participation is not neutral. When a national team marches in behind its flag, it lends its country's name to the event and to everyone associated with it. Uganda understood that. Its decision deserves to be noticed, and it deserves company.
What about the veterans?
This is the first objection people raise, and it is a fair one. Here is the answer.
Stepping back from one event does not end anyone's recovery. Every nation that competes at Invictus selects its team through a national recovery programme, from Soldier On in Canada to the Warrior Games in the United States, and the Invictus Games Foundation itself describes the Games as one part of a year-round community. Recovery through sport does not require the biggest stadium, the most cameras or the most expensive week of the year. It needs quiet, consistent support, close to home, with the attention kept where it belongs: on the men and women who served, not on the celebrity that follows the Games from city to city.
Every nation has cheaper, quieter options that put competitors first. Uganda has just shown that choosing them can be done with dignity.
What we are asking
That each Invictus nation formally review its participation in the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027 in light of Uganda's decision.
That the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, whose head of state is the King, lead that review and announce their conclusions publicly.
That any nation choosing to step back commits, in the same announcement, to funding and expanding its own recovery-through-sport programme for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans.
Uganda did not wait for permission. It led. Please sign, share, and ask your own government to do the same.
The Decision Makers
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on 10 September 2026