Prince Harry Charity Skydive Toronto: Duke Keeps Promise to 102-Year-Old War Veteran

Prince Harry has completed a charity skydive near Toronto, fulfilling a promise he made to a 102-year-old Second World War veteran while raising support for organisations helping Canada’s military community.

The Duke of Sussex took to the skies in Innisfil, Ontario, north of Toronto, on Friday, 25 September 2026, alongside members of the veteran community and Bailey Fullan, the grandson of veteran Ed Marshall.

The jump supported Sunnybrook and the True Patriot Love Foundation, two organisations with longstanding links to serving military personnel, veterans and their families.

The unusual engagement began with a conversation almost a year earlier.

Harry met Marshall during a visit to the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre in Toronto in November 2025.

The pair found common ground through their military backgrounds: Marshall trained as a paratrooper during the Second World War, while Harry spent 10 years in the British Army and completed two operational tours in Afghanistan.

During their meeting, Marshall told Harry how he had marked his 100th birthday by completing his own fundraising skydive.

According to Sunnybrook Foundation, the story made an impression on the Duke and the two began discussing the possibility of jumping together when Harry returned to Canada.

The foundation said the pair had “quickly bonded over their shared experience of military service” before devising the plan for another charity jump.

Harry subsequently followed through on the promise.

Why Could Ed Marshall Not Jump With Prince Harry?

Marshall, now 102 and approaching his 103rd birthday, had hoped to participate personally. However, medical professionals determined that another skydive would not be advisable.

Rather than cancelling the event, his grandson Bailey Fullan stepped in to make the jump alongside Harry, while Marshall remained involved in the occasion and accompanied the group aboard the aircraft.

Speaking after the jump, Harry made clear just how seriously he had taken the promise.

“There’s no version where you can let a 102-year-old veteran down.”

Harry said Marshall had been disappointed by the medical decision but was still able to be part of the experience. He joked that organisers had even put a parachute on the veteran before the group took off.

The Duke also admitted that Marshall’s determination had made backing out difficult.

Harry joked that he had been “blaming Ed” for the entire adventure because the veteran was “very persuasive”.

For Marshall’s family, however, the important part was not simply seeing a member of the Royal Family jump from an aircraft.

Bailey said the family initially did not know whether Harry’s promise would really materialise.

Recalling the months after their original meeting, Bailey said his grandfather repeatedly told relatives that he was going to skydive with Prince Harry.

The family treated the idea cautiously until Harry’s representatives contacted them and began arranging the event.

Bailey described Harry actually returning to honour the commitment as “pretty surreal for our family”, particularly given the demands on the Duke’s schedule.

That reaction helps explain why the Toronto event attracted attention beyond the spectacle of the jump itself.

It was based on a private commitment made during an earlier veterans’ visit rather than being conceived solely as a one-off publicity event.

Sunnybrook said the fundraiser was designed to support both its own work and that of the True Patriot Love Foundation.

Sunnybrook has deep connections with Canada’s military community. It originally opened after the Second World War as Sunnybrook Military Hospital and today operates one of Canada’s largest veteran care facilities.

True Patriot Love, meanwhile, supports members of the Canadian Armed Forces, veterans and military families through programmes including grants, research, advocacy and initiatives aimed at improving wellbeing and recovery.

The charity also has an established relationship with Harry’s wider veterans work.

True Patriot Love was involved in bringing the Invictus Games to Toronto in 2017 and later supported the winter Invictus Games staged in Vancouver and Whistler in 2025.

Harry founded the Invictus Games in 2014 for wounded, injured and sick military personnel and veterans and remains closely associated with the organisation.

Harry Calls Meghan Markle Immediately After Landing

There was another moment after the landing that quickly attracted attention.

After completing the skydive safely, Harry was seen kissing the ground before calling Meghan Markle, who was in England.

Asked whether he had needed to persuade his wife to allow him to take part, Harry said that had not been necessary.

He explained that Meghan Markle had nevertheless been “relieved once we were down”, particularly because the aircraft had taken some time to climb to the required altitude before the jump.

The phone call added a personal element to an event primarily centred on military service and veteran fundraising.

Harry also spoke warmly about Canada during his visit.

The Duke said the country retains a special significance for his family, noting that Meghan lived there for several years before their marriage.

He told Canadian media: “I love Canada”, adding that the country has “a very special place in my heart”.

His connection with Canada stretches across several periods of his public life. Toronto hosted the Invictus Games in 2017, while Vancouver and Whistler hosted the first winter edition of the Games in 2025.

That relationship also explains why the Toronto-area skydive fitted closely with the veteran-focused work Harry has pursued for more than a decade.

The jump came during a busy period of public appearances for the Duke. Days earlier, Harry had been in New York for engagements including an appearance at the Clinton Global Initiative, before travelling to Canada.

He is also looking ahead to the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027, scheduled to take place in the UK next July.

Yet the story at the centre of the Toronto skydive remained considerably simpler: a conversation between two former servicemen, a promise made during a veterans’ centre visit and Harry’s decision to return months later to keep it.

Marshall was ultimately unable to repeat the extraordinary feat he had completed for his 100th birthday, but his grandson’s participation ensured his family remained directly involved.

And for Harry, who acknowledged that jumping from the aircraft was not necessarily something he had been eager to do, Marshall’s age left little room for changing his mind.

The Duke’s explanation after landing summed up the reason the event went ahead: when a 102-year-old veteran is waiting for someone to keep a promise, Harry said, letting him down was simply not an option.