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In a shocking turn of events, Prince Harry has decided to break his silence on the growing backlash surrounding his slated receipt of the prestigious Pat Tillman Award for Service at this year's ESPYs. Over the past week, criticism and a petition with over 750,000 signatures have emerged questioning why Harry is receiving this award meant to honor a veteran's service when he never served in the military.
According to sources close to Harry, he felt compelled to publicly address the controversy given its prominence in both British and American media. Late yesterday, Harry released a statement through his spokesperson focusing on his work with the Invictus Games Foundation rather than directly confronting the criticism.
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In the statement, Harry congratulated the UK team selected to compete in the first ever Winter Invictus Games to be held in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada next February. He highlighted the opportunity for service members and veterans to demonstrate their skills in adaptive winter sports like alpine skiing, snowboarding, and skeleton racing. Harry expressed excitement to see the "passion, determination, and resilience" of competitors on full display at the new event.
While steering clear of the Pat Tillman Award criticism, the timing of Harry's statement seems directly linked to his upcoming in-person receipt of the honor tomorrow night. Skeptics see it as a thinly-veiled PR move to remind the public of his role founding the Invictus Games in 2014 and justify why he deserves such a high-profile award. However, others argue the statement could have been issued at any time and is simply intended to promote the Games' expansion.
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Regardless of intent, the statement does little to quell the protests that the spotlight should remain focused on veterans themselves rather than Harry and his charities. Former royal reporter Angela Levin went so far as to claim Harry and Meghan are "ruining" the Invictus Games by overshadowing competitors and hemorrhaging budgets despite large government grants. While the Games undoubtedly do tremendous good, questions persist if Harry has capitalized too much on their success for personal gain and publicity.
ESPN, the award's presenter, declined to reconsider their choice of Harry despite a petition with over 735,000 signatures requesting they do so. In a statement, ESPN said they were honoring Harry "specifically for the work of the Invictus Games Foundation as it celebrates its 10th year promoting healing through the power of sport for military members and veterans worldwide." However, many feel there are far more deserving current or former service members who have not profited from their military or volunteer experience.
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As Harry collects the Pat Tillman Award tomorrow evening in Los Angeles against this intense public backlash, the situation spots a dark cloud over both the award and Invictus Games. While the Games undoubtedly do worthwhile work for an important community, Harry's increased dominance of the narrative and profits threatens to overshadow the very people they were designed to honor and support. Only time will tell if this controversy damages the reputation and goals of these organizations in the long run. For Harry personally, accepting the award risks cementing his reputation as self-promoting rather than selfless in his charitable endeavors. How Harry, the Games Foundation, and award sponsors navigate this moving forward could determine whether their reputations recover or continue to fall from grace.
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