Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan arrived in The Hague on Friday for the Invictus Games, a day after visiting his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II in Britain.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were in the Dutch city for the sporting event Harry, who served with the British army in Afghanistan, founded for disabled military veterans that starts on Saturday.

Harry, 37, and his wife, 40, were criticised by British tabloids for skipping Prince Philip's memorial service in Westminster Abbey last month.

Philip, who was married to the queen for 73 years, died last April just weeks short of his 100th birthday.

The couple on Thursday met Queen Elizabeth who will celebrate her 96th birthday in a few days.

Harry and Meghan will attend an evening reception on Friday hosted by the city of The Hague and the Dutch defence ministry.

The couple will take part in an all-terrain vehicle challenge on Saturday, before attending the opening ceremony where they will give a speech.

The games, which have been postponed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic, will end on April 22.

The Invictus Games, the first of which took place in London in September 2014, have been a recurrent theme in the couple's relationship.

It was during the 2017 games that the prince made his first public appearance with the American ex-actress. The following year, they were in Sydney, a few days after announcing she was pregnant.

Harry and his wife quit royal life and moved to North America two years ago.

As a result of their decision, the UK government withdrew his taxpayer-funded protection on visits back to Britain, a decision that Harry is challenging in the courts.