Prince Harry has been criticized for his “shameful” decision to wear UK “participation” medals while presenting an award to a high-performing US soldier.
The Duke of Sussex, 39, wore an array of medals on his jacket as he named Combat Medic Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks Military Times Soldier of the Year, including three commemorating his grandmother’s various jubilees this century.
Royal observers were quick to point out that absent from the prince’s lapels was the coronation medal given to him and others who took part in King Charles’ formal accession to the throne last May.
Experts believe the lack of honor could be a slight toward his father. The medals also match the ones Harry chose to wear when he attended the Coronation.
However, critics on social media have now criticized Harry’s decision to wear the medals, calling them “participation medals” and asking: “Of everyone in the world they chose Harry?!”
Prince Harry used a series of medals to present an American combat medic with the Soldier of the Year Award via video message.
Another person complained: ‘Didn’t we have an American veteran who could do this?’
But some were quick to point out that the person being honored, Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks, participated in the Invictus Games in 2016. This is an international sporting event for wounded, injured and ill military men and women founded by Prince Harry.
One social media user said: ‘I remember her from the Invictus Games in 2016! “It is very special that I have given him the award after all these years.”
Despite this, Prince Harry was criticized for his decision to wear British Army medals.
One person called this decision “shameful” and stated that the medals looked “ridiculous.”
Another said: ‘Participation medals are a sad cry for ‘look at meeeeeee’.’
Others defended the Duke of Sussex, pointing out that one of the medals was awarded to him for his service in Afghanistan. The others marked the late Queen’s jubilees.
Harry’s medals (from left to right) included his Afghanistan service medal, as well as gold, diamond and platinum medals for his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The medals appear to be the same ones she wore at the coronation of her father, King Charles III, in May last year.
The absence of the Coronation medal on Harry’s chest, reported by news week and Sunsuggested to royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams that he was deliberately trying to distance himself from his old life while making the United States his permanent home.
Harry was not allowed to attend last May’s festivities dressed as a military man after stepping away from royal duties; that privilege is reserved for working family members.
Commentator Mr Fitzwilliams told Newsweek: ‘Those eligible who participated in the coronation received a medal.
“The Sussexes do nothing by chance and this clearly emphasizes or is intended to emphasize their distancing from the royal family.”
He added to The Sun: ‘The Sussexes are very aware that everything they do, everything they wear, everything they say, will be scrutinized.
Four-time Invictus Games gold medalist and five-time Paralympic medalist Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks, 33, (pictured) suffered bilateral hip injuries while deployed to Iraq in 2010, after joining at only 17 years old.
The coronation medal features an effigy of King Charles and Queen Camilla on the front (left) and the royal cipher, CIIIR (Charles III Rex), on the rear.
“The problem is that if he decides not to wear the coronation medal, it will surely be seen as a snub to King Charles.”
Representatives for the Duke of Sussex declined to comment when approached by MailOnline.
The Coronation medal bears an effigy of King Charles and Queen Camilla facing sideways on the front, and the King’s cipher, CIIIR (Charles III Rex), on the rear.
In the video, Harry was wearing the Operational Service medal he was awarded for his time in the armed forces in Helmand province.
She also wore the three jubilee medals to celebrate the gold, diamond and platinum jubilees of her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
He is believed to have worn the medals to show his affinity for the military, which played a key role in his early years as a senior royal, when he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 and again in 2012.
Harry also opted not to wear his Coronation medal when he delivered a joke-filled monologue at the Stand Up for Heroes event for American veterans last November.
Like the Duke’s other recent appearances, his Soldier of the Year award presentation appeared highly staged: Harry delivered a pre-recorded message from the back door of his Montecito mansion.
He paid tribute to Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks, whom he described as a “friend” and a “beacon of inspiration”, and congratulated her on the award.
Four-time Invictus Games gold medalist and five-time Paralympic medalist SFC Marks, 33, suffered bilateral hip injuries while deployed to Iraq in 2010, after joining up at just 17 years old.
Harry said at the ceremony: “I met Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks at the Invictus Games in Orlando 2016, where I presented her with not one, but four gold medals I had won in swimming.
‘To me, she embodies the courage, resilience and determination embodied throughout our service community. And this is not just due to her swimming skills.
‘Ellie has bravely overcome every obstacle that has come her way. She has turned her pain into purpose and guided through compassion and willpower, showing others that the impossible is truly possible.
“Despite the injuries she suffered during her deployment as a medical assistant in Iraq, along with numerous surgeries and setbacks that would have deterred many, she has tirelessly persevered, becoming the first woman in the Army’s world-class athlete program, as well as in the first swimmer the program had ever seen.
“She has also taken her recovery a step further, using her experiences and achievements to inspire and help others on their mental and physical journey into sport, ensuring that those who cannot see a way out are introduced to the sports medicine that saved her. also.’
