Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are “Drowning Out the Outside Noise” Surrounding Harry’s ESPY Award Backlash

(Image credit: Getty)

published 11 July 2024

The countdown is on to Prince Harry (and, likely, Meghan Markle) appearing at the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles tonight, where Harry will be honored with the Pat Tillman Award for Service for his work with the Invictus Games—a cause extremely close to Harry’s heart that turned 10 years old this year.

Harry founded the Games to give wounded, injured, and sick servicemen and servicewomen—both veterans and those actively serving—a chance to forge community through sport. Military personnel are extremely important to Harry, as he is a veteran himself, having served 10 years in the British Army and undertaking two tours of duty in Afghanistan.

Harry’s award has been met with ample condemnation, not the least of which from Tillman’s mother, Mary. (Tillman left a career in the NFL to serve as a U.S. Army Ranger in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States; he died in 2004 at just 27 years old as a result of friendly fire.) The controversy surrounding his selection for the award apparently left Harry "stunned," but, said former royal butler Grand Harrold, Harry and Meghan are no doubt “drowning out the outside noise” as Harry prepares to accept the award this evening in a ceremony hosted by Meghan’s friend Serena Williams.

The Sussexes are “very used to the criticism, given everything that’s gone on over the last few years,” Harrold said, per OK. “I’m sure they’ll be drowning out the outside noise by continuing with their normal and everyday life and trying not to turn on the television, or read the papers as much. They’re being talked about constantly, given their profiles.”

Harrold—who worked for King Charles (who was then Prince Charles) for several years—doesn’t think the backlash is getting to Harry: “From what I remember, Harry was always an extremely private person, so I’m not sure how he’ll feel about that—but I can imagine his way of coping with the attention is to carry on as normal,” Harrold said.

The former butler added of Harry that “He’d never want to cause any upset,” he said. “If he thinks that it is going to cause upset, then it is quite likely that he could decline the award—because he’d never want to cause any upset, and it would affect him hearing about the backlash.”

Reports indicate that Harry has no plans to decline the award, given by ESPN; the network defended Harry after the brouhaha ensued following his selection, saying that Harry’s Invictus Games were “a cause worth celebrating,” per The Daily Express.

The awards ceremony is set to air tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.