PRINCE Harry was surprised by the reaction he received for winning an award named after a war hero, a source has claimed.
The Duke of Sussex, 39, will be honored with the Pat Tillman Award for Service for his work at Invictus Games at the glittering ESPY Awards in Los Angeles on Thursday.
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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.
But when it was announced that Harry was the winner late last month, criticism quickly followed.
Mary, the mother of late war hero Tilman, criticized Harry – while tens of thousands of people signed a petition calling for the decision to be reconsidered.
A source has now claimed the backlash was a tough pill to swallow for the Duke – who has proudly dedicated years of work to helping war veterans.
The source stated that although Harry and his team are used to being attacked, he found the criticism surrounding his military record upsetting.
The source told the Telegraph: “Harry’s legacy at Invictus, the things he achieved, that’s his true passion.
“This is the space where he truly feels at home, it is something he cares deeply about. The backlash certainly took the shine off the award.”
The Sun has approached the Sussexes for comment.
It was revealed late last month that Harry would be honored with the service award – seeing Tilman’s mother quickly criticize him.
Mary criticized that there were others who were “much better suited” and with less “privilege” who could win the gong.
She said Daily Mail: “There are recipients who are much more suitable. There are individuals working in the veteran community who are doing incredible things to help veterans.
“These individuals do not have the money, resources, connections or privileges that Prince Harry has. I feel that these types of individuals should be recognized.”
And a petition, started on June 27 to ask “ESPN to rethink awarding the Pat Tillman Award to Prince Harry,” has gathered 67,000 signatures to date.
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. As an American, I’m shocked that you gave him this award. Now it means nothing.”
Harry winning award is a ‘tragedy’, says expert
By Jonathan Rose and Jon Rogers
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 says.
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.
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.”
While another wrote: “There are others much more deserving. This is a slap in the face.”
ESPN states that for the past 10 years the Pat Tillman Award for Service has been “given to a person with a strong connection to the sport who has served others in a way that echoes the legacy of the former NFL player and U.S. Army Ranger , Pat Tillman.”
The gong was presented to Harry “in honor of his tireless work in making a positive impact on the veteran community.”
ESPN said the Invictus Games “transcended borders and impacted lives on every continent.”
The Duke founded the Invictus Games a decade ago to support wounded and sick servicemen and women – both active duty and veterans.
This is despite Harry courting controversy by boasting about killing 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
What happened to Pat Tillman?
ESPN reported Tillman’s tragic death in 2014 as the 10th anniversary approached.
Tillman was a safety for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals for four seasons before joining the Army.
He enlisted eight months after 3,000 people were killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Tillman, a California native, turned down a $3.6 million contract offer when he enlisted in the Army.
“The events that led to one of the most infamous friendly fire deaths in U.S. military history were fraught with questions from the beginning,” ESPN reported.
“After an Army Humvee broke down in the mountains, Tillman’s platoon was split up by superiors so the Humvee could be removed; a local truck driver was hired as the transporter.
“But the two groups struggled to communicate as they traversed the steep terrain. And the second group was soon caught in a deafening ambush, taking fire as it maneuvered along a narrow, rocky canyon trail.”
A squad leader would misidentify an allied Afghan soldier positioned next to Tillman as an enemy, according to ESPN.
Soldiers would shoot at what Army Ranger Steven Elliott called “grim images,” ESPN reported.
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”.
Retired military officer Colonel Richard Kemp says the award is just “celebrities massaging each other’s egos”.
He previously told The Sun: “He was a gunner on an Apache helicopter in Afghanistan, but so were a lot of other people.
“I can think of many people who did extraordinary things whilst serving in the British and American armed forces who would be far more deserving of an award like this.
“It’s obviously because of who he is – not what he’s done. An Apache is crewed by two people – a pilot and a gunner. Harry was a goalscorer. He was number two on the aircraft.
“There have been some incredible aeronautical exports from helicopter pilots in Afghanistan, Iraq and other war zones.
“There are some extraordinary stories – many of them covered by The Sun – involving enormous flying skill and bravery.
“As far as I know, Harry – although I commend him for going out there and doing that – has not accomplished feats like that.”
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 a secondment 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”.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
