PRINCE Harry winning an ESPY award is a “tragedy” and NFL legend Pat Tillman’s mother has “a right to be upset”, a royal expert has said.
The Duke of Sussex, 39, will be honored with the Pat Tillman Award for Service for his work at Invictus Games at the glitzy ESPY Awards in Los Angeles on July 11.
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The ESPY Awards (Excellence in Annual Sports Performance) are administered by the sports TV network ESPN and the Pat Tillman Award has been given to unsung heroes.
For the past 10 years, the Pat Tillman Service Award has been “given to a person with a strong connection to sports who has served others in a way that echoes the legacy of former NFL player and U.S. Army Ranger Pat Tillman ,” according to ESPN.
Tillman’s life was tragically cut short when he was killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan.
Pat’s mother, Mary, has previously criticized the Duke, saying there are others “much better suited” and with less “privilege” who could win the gong.
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said: “It’s a very, very sad situation, and I think this is one of the reasons why Mary Tillman, Pat’s mother, believes that Harry is not fit, and this is a missed opportunity.
“In my opinion, I think it was a general tragedy.”
Although Richard supported Harry’s work with the Invictus Games, saying it was a “remarkable achievement”, he said it was a “missed opportunity”.
Richard added: “Consider what they could have achieved, but also what they could have done beyond Invictus and other third-party charities.
“If we look at the way members of the Royal Family tirelessly, often without publicity, carry out royal duties, it is very important to see.
“Yes, that Invictus was a remarkable thing, but equally it could have been followed by many more that were also remarkable, and would have helped other people in certain charities.
“Issues like gender equality, racial equality, discrimination of various kinds and so on that they feel so strongly about as senior members of the royal family, and they had a unique opportunity to do that.”
Following Mary Tillman’s comments, a petition was also launched to try to stop ESPN from awarding the prince, who is also an Afghanistan veteran, with the award.
It got around 30,000 signatories.
One signer said: “Pat Tillman sacrificed his life for duty and country! Harry walked away from duty and country and spat on his commander in chief, country, duty and family on his way out.
“All for a Hollywood dream! I’m shocked as an American that you gave him this award. Now it means nothing!”
Richard said: “I think Pat Tillman’s mother seems to have been shocked that Harry received this award, and there is no doubt that although she was not personally involved in the choice, there is no doubt that it brought a lot. Weight.
“I think a lot of people will be disturbed that someone who clearly has a lot of interest in who gets the award will think Harry is completely unsuitable for it.”
Richard added: “The Invictus Games debate centers on Harry’s personal character and questions of dedication to duty.
Prince Harry’s Army Career
Prince Harry joined RMAS in May 2005 to begin 44 weeks of Officer Cadet training, after passing the Regular Commissions Board (RCB), the qualification required to train at Sandhurst, in September 2004.
In January 2006, Clarence House announced that he would be joining the Blues and Royals, following which he was commissioned as an Army officer on 12 April of that year.
The Duke of Sussex served in the Army for ten years, completing two tours in Afghanistan.
The father of two rose to the rank of captain at the height of his military career, which began in 2004.
During his time in service he qualified as an Apache Aircraft Commander.
In his memoir Spare, he revealed that he flew six missions during his second mission, 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 as a captain in June 2015 after being posted to the Australian Army.
General Sir Nicholas Carter, then Chief of the General Staff, said Prince Harry “achieved a lot in his 10 years as a soldier”.
“Characteristics that Pat Tillman had, and that should be personified, so to speak, should be symbolized by the person who receives this particular award and that’s a big debate in America.
“There is no doubt that this award is being given to someone who many people believe did not do his duty.
“In fact, he and Meghan only remained working members of the Royal Family for a brief period after their wedding in 2018.
“They announced that they were resigning, they thought back, but they found out that they were resigning only a year and a half later, and the feeling is that Harry didn’t get the character or didn’t show the character, which the winners of this award should appear.
However, there were voices that supported Prince Harry in obtaining the award.
US Marine and former college football player Jake Wood, who won the award in 2018, said TMZ The Duke of Sussex was a natural choice for Tillman’s honor because of his military service and his dedication to veterans.
US Air Force Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro Jr. received the Tillman Award in 2017 and told the site that Harry’s work with wounded and wounded veterans made him a worthy recipient.
The Duke founded the Invictus Games a decade ago to support wounded and ill servicemen and women – both active duty and veterans.
Prince Harry is also the founder and/or patron of a number of global charities and organizations including Travalyst, Sentebale, Wellchild and also sits on the board of African Parks.
This is despite Harry courting controversy by boasting about killing 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
He wrote in his memoir Spare that he had taken “chess pieces off the board”, causing former Colonel Tim Collins to respond that “that’s not how you behave in the army”.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
