Prince Harry was devastated after the royal family made a major move that shattered the Duke’s dream. The Duke of Sussex cried silently after losing his military titles, a source said. “Harry was really hurt that he wasn’t allowed to keep his formal links with the military,” a friend of the Duke of Sussex told the BBC. Daily Mail.
The Duke, who served two tours in Afghanistan, previously held a number of honorary military titles including Commodore-in-Chief of Small and Diving Ships, Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington and Captain General of the Royal Marines.
The titles were bestowed upon him by the late Queen Elizabeth II, but were stripped from him once he officially stepped down as a working member of the royal family. This comes at a time when the father of two has faced a major backlash in the US. A petition to block Harry from receiving an award has reached 50,000 signatures.
The petition reads: “To bestow this honour on someone who does not reflect the intent of the award diminishes its value and disrespects Tillman’s memory.” Harry is due to receive the memorial award installed on Pat Tillman’s behalf in Hollywood later this month.
Tilman’s mother Mary criticised the decision to give the award named after her late son to Prince Harry, saying: “I am shocked that they have chosen such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award.”
Previously, author and royal biographer Robert Jobson, who wrote Our King: The Man and the Monarch Revealed, claimed Harry “hates” that his estranged father took such drastic measures after his son stepped back from royal life in 2020.
“He hates the idea of not being captain general of the Royal Marines… and he hates the fact that he’s lost all these jobs,” Jobson previously told True Royalty TV’s The Royal Beat.
In May, Buckingham Palace announced that William would be appointed Colonel-in-Chief of The Army Air Corpsdespite Harry having personally served with the unit in Afghanistan. The announcement seemed well-timed to cause maximum pain to Harry, coming on the same day he returned to London to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games.
“King Charles’ announcement… is a real kick in the teeth for the son who always felt marginalised and undervalued,” said royal expert Tom Quinn. mirror“He is said to have been in tears when he found out,” he said. “What makes it much worse is that the role is being given to the very man Harry sees as the cause of so many of his problems, his brother.”