PRINCE Harry ‘will never win another award’ after the backlash sparked from collecting his gong for service, a royal expert claimed.
The Duke of Sussex was honoured with the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the 2024 ESPYS last night – despite an ex-military chief urging him to turn it down.
Harry, wearing a dark suit and tie, was sat alongside the duchess, who wore a long white dress from Staud’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection.
But, his controversial acceptance of the award has ignited a fierce row.
What isn’t ideal is that Harry’s idea of service is very, very questionable
Mr Fitzwilliams
The 39-year-old received the honour for his Invictus Games work at the star-studded Los Angeles bash.
According to ESPN, the Pat Tillman Award for Service is “given to a person with a strong connection to sports who has served others in a way that echoes the legacy of the former NFL player and US Army Ranger, Pat Tillman”.
The duke was offered the award “in honour of his tireless work in making a positive impact for the veteran community”.
ESPN said the Invictus Games has “transcended borders and impacted lives across every continent”.
It was hosted by close pal of wife Meghan Markle, Serena Williams, at the Dolby Theatre, and Harry delivered a short speech on stage.
Harry told the crown, in an emotional speech: “I’d also like to acknowledge the Tillman family, especially Mary Tillman, Pat’s mother – her advocacy for Pat’s legacy is deeply personal and one that I respect.
“The truth is I stand here not as Prince Harry Pat Tillman Award recipient but rather as a voice on behalf of the Invictus Game Foundation,” he told the crowd.
“And the thousands of veterans and service personnel from over 20 nations who have made the Invictus Games a reality.
“This award belongs to them not to me.
“It is of great importance to me to highlight these allies and their amazing families for their achievements, their spirit, and their courage at every opportunity.
“Especially on nights like this in front of people like you.”
The duke also thanked the awards for bringing attention to the work of Invictus.
“Moments like these help us reach the people who need Invictus most,” Harry added.
“And reduce more than 20 veterans a day taking their own lives in this country alone.”
“The bond between a mother and son is eternal and transcends even the greatest losses.”
It comes after Harry jetted across the pond to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of his Invictus Games earlier this year.
The first-ever ceremony took place in March 2014 at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.
It unfolds over the course of seven days and sees more than 500 athletes compete in nine core sports – as well as additional activities and competitions, including esports.
Sporting events at the Games include wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair rugby, and indoor rowing.
The duke also recently announced exciting new plans for a lavish Invictus Games centre in Abuja, Nigeria.
And, a source has claimed backlash surrounding the gong had been a hard pill to swallow for the duke– who has proudly poured years of work into helping war veterans.
They told Telegraph: “Harry’s legacy on Invictus, the things he has achieved, that’s his real passion.
“This is the space in which he truly feels at home, it is something he deeply cares about. The reaction certainly took the shine off the award.”
AWARD ROW
But, doubts had previously be cast over whether Harry should receive the gong.
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told The Sun: “There was no question Harry would accept this. The award was never going to be withdrawn.
“But there’s the fact that 70,000 people apparently have felt that it shouldn’t be.
“And that Pat Tillman’s mother, Mary, thought that he was not of a character the sort of person who should get it.
“I think that any award that doesn’t want controversy will think twice before awarding it to either the Sussexes in the future.”
The royal commentator highlighted criticism fired when Harry collected the Living Legends of Aviation award– as it was dubbed a “snub” to Army pilots.
Mr Fitzwilliams also touched on the controversy following Meghan Markle’s acceptance of the 2023 Women of Vision Award.
He continued: “Harry founded the Invictus Games 10 years ago.
Prince Harry's Army career
Prince Harry entered RMAS in May 2005 to begin 44 weeks of Officer Cadet training, this was after passing his Regular Commissions Board (RCB), the qualification necessary to train at Sandhurst, in September 2004.
In January 2006, Clarence House announced he was to join the Blues and Royals, after which he was commissioned as an Army officer on 12 April that year.
The Duke of Sussex served in the Army for ten years, undertaking two tours of Afghanistan.
The father of two rose to the rank of Captain at the peak of his military career which began in 2004.
During his time serving, he qualified as an Apache Aircraft Commander.
In his memoir Spare he revealed he flew six missions during his second tour of duty which resulted in “the taking of human lives” of which he was neither proud nor ashamed.
His decision to leave the Army was confirmed in March 2015.
Prince Harry ended his military career at the rank of captain in June 2015, following a secondment to the Australian military.
General Sir Nicholas Carter, the then-Chief of the General Staff, said that Prince Harry had “achieved much in his 10 years as a soldier”.
“It’s remarkable. It helps wounded and disabled service men and women, both in the services and veterans, and no one is casting any aspersions on that.”
But, he added: “What isn’t ideal is that Harry’s idea of service is very, very questionable.
“They (Duke and Duchess of Sussex) blindsided the late Queen Elizabeth by announcing they were stepping back, and then it led to them stepping down as senior working royals.
“Now that is not proper service.
“And when the Queen talked about the problems of combining a half-in, half-out royal life with public service, the Sussexes said that service was universal.
There are recipients that are far more fitting. There are individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans
Mary Tillman
“They appeared as though they thought they knew more about service than the Queen.
“It was a situation which wouldn’t have led to the rift that it did, if the Sussexes hadn’t started a guerrilla war, which is what it amounted to.”
The expert spoke of the sensational Oprah interview, Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary, the duke’s bombshell memoir Spare, and subsequent interviews.
“The problem is that if you conduct another form of warfare, a guerrilla warfare against the royal family that is not service to your commander-in-chief, the late Queen Elizabeth, it was very destructive,” Mr Fitzwilliams added.
PAT TILLMAN LEGACY
Tillman’s life was tragically cut short when he was killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan.
Pat’s mum, Mary, has previously hit out at the duke saying there are others “far more fitting” and with less “privilege” who could win the gong.
She said: “There are recipients that are far more fitting. There are individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans.
What happened to Pat Tillman?
ESPN recounted Tillman's tragic death in 2014 as the 10th anniversary approached.
Tillman was a safety with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals for four seasons before joining the Army.
He enlisted eight months after 3,000 people were killed in the September 11 terror attacks.
Tillman, a California native, turned down a contract offer of $3.6 million when he joined the military.
“The events leading up to one of the most infamous friendly-fire deaths in US military history were rife for second-guessing from the start,” reported ESPN.
“After an Army Humvee broke down in the mountains, Tillman’s platoon was divided by superiors so that the Humvee could be removed; a local truck driver was hired as the hauler.
“But the two groups struggled to communicate with each other as they traversed the steep terrain. And the second group soon became caught in a deafening ambush, receiving fire as it manoeuvred down a narrow, rocky canyon trail.”
A squad leader would misidentify an allied Afghan soldier positioned next to Tillman as the enemy, according to ESPN.
Soldiers would fire upon what Army Ranger Steven Elliott called “shadowy images,” ESPN reported.
“These individuals do not have the money, resources, connections or privilege that Prince Harry has. I feel that those types of individuals should be recognised.”
Meanwhile, former head of the Royal Navy Lord West saying Harry should think “hard and long” about his choice.
In the lead up to the event, he told The Sun: “I really think Harry should be well advised to sit back and not accept awards like this. It doesn’t travel well with people in the military.
“And when the mother of the man who died doesn’t want him to get this award, he should think about that.”
Past honorees of the Pat Tillman Award
The Buffalo Bills’ training staff (2023) after Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on field.
Retired US Army Command Sergeant Major Gretchen Evans (2022) who founded Team Unbroken, an adaptive racing team of mostly veterans.
Manchester United star Marcus Rashford (2021).
Health care worker and boxing champion Kim Clavel (2020).
Kristie Ennis, former Marine and founder of the Kristie Ennis Foundation (2019).
Navy-Marine Commendation Medal recipient, Sergeant and founder of Team Rubicon Jake Wood (2018).
Purple Heart recipient and Invictus Games gold medalist Israel Del Toro (2017).
U.S. Army Sgt. and Invictus Games gold medalist Elizabeth Marks (2016).
Former Notre Dame basketball player, Iraq War veteran and Purple Heart recipient Danielle Green (2015).
U.S. Paralympic gold-medal sled hockey player and Purple Heart recipient Josh Sweeney (2014).
Another retired military officer, Colonel Richard Kemp, said the award is just “celebrities massaging each other’s egos”.
He previously told The Sun: “He was a gunner in an Apache helicopter in Afghanistan but so were many, many other people.
“I can think of many people who did pretty extraordinary things while serving in the British and American armed forces which would be much more deserving of an award like this.”
“It is obviously because of who he is – not what he did. An Apache is crewed by two people – a pilot and a gunner. Harry was a gunner. He was number two in the aircraft.”
