Prince Harry set for surprise boost as expert reveals Duke will get controversial award

Prince Harry has been receiving “do-gooder” awards and while his ESPY nomination is stirring up controversy, it may result in a boost.

Harry is scheduled to receive the Pat Tillman Award for Service on July 11 at ESPN’s ESPY Awards, but there are some saying he doesn’t deserve it, including the late veteran’s mother Mary Tillman. 

Jane Barr talks about the turn of events in her From Berkshire to Buckingham Palace newsletter, writing: “I can see Mrs. Tillman’s point. The Invictus Games were, as discussed in these pages, created by the British government for a then-senior royal.”

She added: “Since that time, Harry has become an ex-royal, courted enormous controversy, and essentially revealed himself to be a deeply unimpressive person.”

While Barr doesn’t necessarily agree with the nomination, she can see how the award is a good fit with the Invictus Games.

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Harry no longer holds a position in the military, nor does he have an ongoing relationship with the military, says Barr, but even so, Invictus Games is worthy of the award.

According to the royal watcher: “Although it is now a discrete project for Harry, Invictus is a successful and laudable initiative, at this point.”

She addressed ESPN’s role in the backlash: “ESPN defended its decision not so much by defending Harry as an excellent choice but by reasserting that the Invictus Games are a wonderful vehicle that aids the wounded.”

“By that explanation, it sounds like ESPN sees Harry as the figure-head of the organization who is deputised to receive the award.”

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It seems like Barr is trying to rationalise the nomination, that while it may not be a good fit, it may be a good thing for the long game, that people will put more thought into making decisions like these and Harry and Meghan wil benefit, not stepping into these pitfalls.

She said: “This dust-up will inevitably make people a little more wary of randomly assigning awards to the couple.”

She added: “Especially for these awards that don’t really require any substance, less controversial recipients will be less work, whereas awarding something to Harry or Meghan could draw negative press from varied quarters."

“Despite all the arguments we can line up, Invictus has been Harry’s project, it was and appears to be a great project, and it is something worthy of an award.”