When the Duke of Sussex became the controversial recipient of a veterans’ award in the US on Friday, he played the game. He smiled, stuck close to his wife and gave a speech referencing not only his late mother Princess Diana, but also the grieving mother of Pat Tillman, the all-American soldier whose sacrifice on the battlefield inspired the award.
What should have been a feather in the duke’s cap, however, became something of a publicity crisis for Prince Harry long before he took to the stage at the awards organised by the ESPY television network.
Tillman’s mother, Mary, said she hadn’t been consulted and was “shocked” that “such a controversial and divisive individual” should be given the honour previously given to unsung heroes.
In the event, Harry accepted the award on behalf of the competitors of his Invictus Games, the Paralympic-style sporting competition he founded for wounded troops.
Finally, the expensive PR advice seemed to be paying off.
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Yet many are beginning to wonder whether Harry’s popularity across the Atlantic is beginning to wane. If so, can he claw it back?
Newsweek, a publication which in the past has been supportive of the Sussexes, reported that Meghan’s UK fanbase “appears to have collapsed almost completely with just 1 per cent of Boomers feeling ‘very positive’ about her”. It cited a YouGov poll in May showing that she was disliked by 65 per cent of Britons, including 45 per cent whose view of her was “very negative.”
On the other side of the Atlantic, the magazine commissioned a poll of 1,500 American adults which wasn’t much better. It showed that 38 per cent of people thought it was the wrong decision for ESPY to give Harry the Pat Tillman Award. Only 21 per cent said it was the right course of action.
In the US, the popular sports pundit Pat McAfee thought that network was “obviously trying to piss people off” by selecting Harry as the recipient.
In Britain, Lord West of Spithead, who led the Royal Navy from 2002 to 2006, said that Harry should turn it down.
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But Tillman’s own mother offered the most biting criticism. After 9/11, her son had given up a £3 million contract as an NFL American Football star to follow duty and honour and sign up to the Army. He served in Afghanistan, where he was killed in 2004.
Mary Tillman told the Mail on Sunday that there were “recipients that are far more fitting” to receive the accolade than Harry.
A petition saying he was unsuitable received more than 70,000 signatures. Some questioned whether he would even show up to the ceremony.
The bad press keeps coming and, interestingly, not just from the tabloid press that Harry loathes. An article in the Spectator magazine said: “Alas, Harry has become as unloved a figure in the United States as he is in Britain.”
It had started so well when they first moved to the US.
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There was an award-winning tell-all interview, a hit Netflix show and Harry’s bestselling autobiography, Spare. A mental health series looked at Harry undergoing meditation. His Invictus Games competition goes from strength to strength.
However, a podcast deal between the Sussexes’ Archewell Audio production company and Spotify came to an end. That might have been the end of it if Bill Simmons, a Spotify executive, hadn’t then used another podcast to describe the couple as “f***ing grifters”, hinting that he might one day reveal illuminating details of a Zoom call he had had with Harry.
Far worse than outright criticism was the point at which they became figures of fun. The cartoon South Park devoted an entire episode to a brand-obsessed “Prince and Princess of Canada” who embarked on a “worldwide privacy tour”.
Meghan and Harry betrayed their annoyance when their office responded to reports that they would sue to programme as “nonsense”, “baseless” and “boring”.
The latest criticism, coming from the American military community, will surely hurt the most.
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Long before he met Meghan, Harry held the US, especially the US military, in high regard. He admired how they looked after their soldiers by providing them with the proper kit while in service and making provisions for them afterwards.
In Colorado in 2013 Harry was impressed by the Warrior Games, a tournament for US servicemen and women and veterans. It gave him the idea for the international Invictus Games.
Its success proved to be Harry’s defining moment, with some royal watchers even commenting that his older brother might have been jealous.
Protecting the reputation of Harry, particularly in relation to the games, will be key to long-lasting success for the couple.
Today, some of the Sussexes’ American former celebrity allies seem noticeably quiet.
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Oprah Winfrey, who secured the explosive first interview with Harry and Meghan after their departure from royal duties, has not been associated with them publicly for some time.
It is the same for George and Amal Clooney who, along with Oprah, were invited to the couple’s royal wedding in Windsor in 2018.
An observer based in Hollywood said: “The tide has turned. People in America have been welcoming but they won’t like the way they’ve treated the late Queen and now the King. Mostly, people I speak to say they either don’t like the Sussexes, or don’t care.”
If you’re running a multi-media company, of course, the “don’t care” factor could prove to be the most damaging.
Yet Team Sussex does have reason to remain cheerful. The couple will no doubt be buoyed by some of the voices coming out of support of the couple.
Jake Wood, a US marine and previous winner of the Pat Tillman Award, came to Harry’s defence. While cautious to say that Mary Tillman was entitled to defend her son’s legacy, Wood said he found Harry to be a worthy recipient because of his service in the Army and dedication to helping veterans.
In Britain, the captain of Team UK for the Invictus Games, said that Harry’s sporting competition had “saved lives” by giving hope and purpose to veterans.
Stephen Hooper, 40, told The Daily Telegraph: “We wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for him being there, creating this environment for us.
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“And I can honestly say it’s probably saved lives. It’s bettered lives, it’s saved lives. To have him there, to at least just say a thank you, it means an absolute huge amount. He doesn’t sit in the shadows, he fully injects himself, he wants to be part of it and I think that’s fantastic.”
Yet no amount of praise will counteract the icy blast directed towards the Sussexes from the Windsors back in Britain. On his last visit, the King’s aides were baffled by Harry’s claims that his father was too busy to see him. Those within the Palace have such a faint dotted line into the Sussexes’ office that it was said to be far from clear what Harry’s plans were in the first place.
As for his brother, there is no longer any hope that a meeting will take place in the short term.
By the end of the month, the board of the Invictus Games is expected to decide the location of the 2027 games, choosing between bids from Birmingham and Washington DC. At the moment there’s no obvious sign which location would give Harry a better reception.
After being given the cold shoulder by his father and brother the last time he was in London, it seems unlikely that either of them will rush to give the games their seal of approval.
The Royal British Legion is behind the UK bid and, rightly, some previously untold stories of triumph over adversity will be heard.
And if there’s one thing Hollywood likes, it’s a plucky underdog overcoming the odds to succeed: the ultimate American dream.
If the Sussexes are well advised, Harry will realise that the American dream can only be achieved through hard work. If he wants a career as a popular media personality in the US, he could do to well to start the hard graft of winning the public’s trust all over again.
