Harry and Meghan wheel out their PR guru and Archewell director James Holt on Netflix again for Heart of Invictus ‘group therapy’
- Mr Holt served as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex ‘s UK spokesman
- Took up current post as executive director of Archewell in March 2021
Harry and Meghan’s right-hand man James Holt is seen hosting an emotional group discussion in the couple’s Heart of Invictus Netflix documentary.
Mr Holt served as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s UK spokesman before taking up his current role as executive director of their Archewell Foundation in March 2021.
He makes fleeting appearances in the five-part Heart of Invictus, which was released this morning.
In one scene in the fourth episode, which is called ‘group therapy’, Mr Holt hosts a discussion in The Hague in the Netherlands ahead of last year’s Invictus Games competition.
Speaking to Harry and Meghan and other organisers, he addresses the Covid-enforced pause to the competition, saying: ‘After a couple of years of delays, we are actually finally here.’
After Mr Holt warns them them all that the next few weeks will be ‘tense’ and ‘tough’, Harry adds that the games are ‘group therapy’ for everyone.
Harry and Meghan’s right-hand man James Holt is seen hosting an emotional group discussion in the couple’s Heart of Invictus Netflix documentary. In one scene in the fourth episode, which is called ‘group therapy’, Mr Holt addresses the Covid-enforced pause to the Invictus Games, saying: ‘After a couple of years of delays, we are actually finally here’
Mr Holt served as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s UK spokesman before taking up his current role as executive director of their Archewell Foundation in March 2021
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Holt makes two further appearances in the fifth episode, which is called Where the Light Enters.
In the first, Harry is seen holding his printed speech which is covered in hand-written edits. He jokes to his wife and Mr Holt: ‘How not to give a speech’.
The PR man replies: ‘Well at least you can read your writing.’
Harry then asks for his help pronouncing the name of the Netherlands’s chief of defence, Onno Eichelsheim.
Mr Holt has to look up on his phone the correct pronounciation.
Later in the episode, Mr Holt gives the Prince a wooden plaque that is engraved with his name and was a gift from Team Canada.
In the discussion in the fourth episode, Harry also said: ‘After so many delays because of the global pandemic, with all the craziness that is happening in the world, what is happening in Ukraine, to be here now in the games with all teh people that have been patiently waiting since 2020, it is a relief to be honest.
‘We didn’t think it would ever happen, and it has been a real emotional roller coaster for every single person.’
Mr Holt adds: ‘It’s going to be exhausted, it’s going to be tense, it’s going to be tough.’
Harry finishes his stirring contribution by saying: ‘The vast majority of people who have made it to the Invictus games, the vast majority of these individuals who are alive today is because of their support network, is because of their family, because of their friends.
In the fifth episode, Harry is seen holding his printed speech which is covered in hand-written edits. He jokes to his wife and Mr Holt: ‘How not to give a speech’. The PR man replies: ‘Well at least you can read your writing’
‘This week at the games is group therapy, for every single person. And that really excites me, so bring it on.’
Meghan adds: ‘Oh my gosh, thanks everybody.’
Holt took over as executive director of Archewell from Catherine St-Laurent in March 2021 after she had served for just a year.
He is one of Prince Harry’s longest-serving team members, having led communications for the Royal Foundation from October 2017, when it was run by Harry along with Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Mr Holt, who has previously worked for the Liberal Democrats, also acted as Harry and Meghan Markle’s UK spokesman before taking up his current post.
He has a BA degree in journalism from the University of Lincoln, and became head of media for the Lib Dems in 2010, a role in which he stayed until 2013.
Later in the episode, Mr Holt gives the Prince a wooden plaque that is engraved with his name and was a gift from Team Canada
Mr Holt also worked as special adviser to deputy prime minister Nick Clegg before becoming his head of communications.
And he took on the voluntary position of communications director for Pride in London between 2016 and 2017.
Pressure is on the Invictus documentary to be a ratings success, after the couple’s other lucrative media deal with Spotify ended in June after one season of Meghan’s podcast Archetypes.
Netflix unveiled its first trailer for the series on August 16.
It comes after Netflix paid £3million for the film rights to Carley Fortune’s romantic novel Meet Me At The Lake which Harry and Meghan will produce for the service.
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