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Sussex Award Uproar: Prince Harry's Honor Sparks Outcry from 70,000 Objectors and Pat Tillman's Family at Elite 'Back-Patting Session'

Prince Harry's receiving of the Pat Tillman Award at the 2024 ESPY's sparked outcries from protestors and the slain war hero's family.

Harry, Duke of Sussex, "will never win another award" after the pushback and objections to his receiving the Pat Tillman Award at the ESPY Awards on Thursday, July 11.

"There's the fact that 70,000 people apparently have felt that it shouldn't be," royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told The Sun. "And that Pat Tillman's mother, Mary, thought that he was not of a character the sort of person who should get it."

The prince attended the glitzy gala with Meghan Markle, although the ex-working royals conspicuously skipped walking the red carpet to pose for photographs and field press questions.

"There was no question Harry would accept this," he added. "The award was never going to be withdrawn. I think that any award that doesn't want controversy will think twice before awarding it to either the Sussexes in the future. 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."

The commentator then added: "What isn't ideal is that Harry's idea of service is very, very questionable."

Harry and Meghan's infamous "Megxit" in early 2020, which found the Duke and Duchess of Sussex leaving their roles as public servants and Britain itself, is considered by many to be a "serious dereliction of duty and selfishness and its finest."

"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," Fitzwilliams continued.

"Now that is not proper service," he pointed out. "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. 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 Pat Tillman Award, named after the late NFL player and Army Ranger who was killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2004, is intended to honor individuals who exemplify service and leadership. While Harry’s Invictus Games, an international sporting event for wounded, injured, and sick servicemen and women, aligns with these values, some critics have argued that Harry’s nomination was undeserved.

Tillman's mom, Mary, said that there "are recipients that are far more fitting" than the fiery-haired prince who wrote a bestselling book that attacked members of his family.

Despite the backlash, Harry used the ESPY Awards platform to shift focus away from himself and toward the participants of the Invictus Games.

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