Nearly four in ten Americans believe Prince Harry was wrong to receive the Pat Tillman Award, according to a new poll.
The duke, 39, collected the service award usually given to unsung heroes last week at a glitzy ceremony at the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles.
But this sparked a furious backlash as more than 76,000 people signed a petition demanding the decision be reversed, while he has now come under increasing pressure to return the trophy.
Tillman’s own mother, Mary, criticized the decision to give him the award honoring her late son, calling Harry a “controversial and divisive individual.”
Now a poll of 1,500 Americans appears to back her up: 38 percent say it was a mistake to give the award to Harry.
While the US approval rating of his wife Meghan Markle, who sat beaming with pride in the audience as Harry collected the award, is still lower than that of Prince William and Princess Kate, it is another blow to the Sussexes.
Nearly four in ten Americans believe Prince Harry was wrong to receive the Pat Tillman Award
A beaming Meghan Markle places her hand on Harry’s leg as the couple pose for the cameras at the glitzy ceremony in Los Angeles.
Of those polled by the Redfield and Wilton polling agency, only 21 percent said they were in favour of the prince. The remaining 41 percent said they “didn’t know”.
Tillman won acclaim in the United States after leaving a lucrative NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist as an Army Ranger following 9/11.
He served in Iraq and then Afghanistan, where he was killed by friendly fire in 2004 when he was 27.
During his acceptance speech, Harry, who was honoured for his work with the Invictus Games, appeared to offer an olive branch to Mary.
“Her advocacy for Pat’s legacy is something deeply personal and one I respect,” she said. “The bond between mother and son is eternal and transcends even the greatest of losses.”
But notably, Venus Williams, whose sister Serena presented the awards, appeared to remain seated during a standing ovation for Harry.
While some condemned the choice of Prince Harry as the recipient of the award, ESPN defended it, citing his role in creating the Invictus Games, which he mentioned in dedicating the award to “the entire community of service.”
“While we understand that not everyone will agree with every honoree selected for any award, the Invictus Games Foundation does incredible work and ESPN believes this is a cause worth celebrating,” the network said in a statement to the New York Post.
The Sussexes were welcomed to great fanfare in the US in 2020 when they left the UK to get away from royal life and settle in California.
The award is named for Pat Tillman, an NFL player who left his lucrative career to join the military after the Sept. 11 attacks. He died in Afghanistan in 2004.
Mary Tillman, the mother of the fallen NFL star turned veteran, was ‘shocked’ that her son’s award went to ‘such a controversial and divisive figure’
Prince Harry, who raised eyebrows last month when he was announced as the winner, was greeted on stage by three previous winners of the Pat Tillman Award.
Tillman gained legions of fans during his three years in the NFL playing for the Arizona Cardinals.
The couple received a standing ovation when they were announced at the event by host Serena Williams, who jokingly warned them not to “upstage” her.
Oprah Winfrey’s 2021 interview was watched by more than 17 million Americans and was praised in the American press.
Public opinion of the Sussexes appeared to wane following the publication of Harry’s controversial memoir Spare in January 2023.
A Newsweek poll at the time found that 45 percent of Americans were in favor of having their royal titles stripped away. A month earlier, that figure had been reversed: 43 percent thought they should keep them.
And in the most recent approval ratings, Meghan still trailed the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Despite her popularity among Americans improving from 31 percent to 36 percent in May, Princess Kate is still loved by 45 percent and remains America’s favorite royal.
Forty-two percent of Americans liked Harry a little more, and 40 percent of those surveyed said they liked Prince William.
