The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Family, News and Events 9: August 2023 - July 2024

[Prinsara]

Is there some sort of conclusion as to why it might have been given to Harry and why this year? Ie; who decides and whether they might have been influenced vs. giving it to someone else or Invictus in general?

 

[HRHHermione]

Is there some sort of conclusion as to why it might have been given to Harry and why this year? Ie; who decides and whether they might have been influenced vs. giving it to someone else or Invictus in general?

I don’t think there is, but here’s the press release for the three special awards explaining why they were chosen:

ESPN Reveals Special Honorees for The 2024 ESPYS Presented by Capital One, Airing July 11 at 8 p.m. ET / PT on ABC

During The 2024 ESPYS, hosted by Serena Williams, ESPN will honor athletes and sports leaders for their courage, perseverance and service with three special accolades. Steve Gleason will receive the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, Dawn Staley will receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, and...

espnpressroom.com

 

[Durham]

Britons had no idea that Harry was talented at so much. We are beyond grateful that America has given him so many awards for all sorts of amazing things.

We need a thread detailing the wonderfulness of this exceptional human being & all the awards he deserves.

Could I start off with baking? Or dog grooming?

 

[Curryong]

How about we start off with Awards he received when he was a working royal and son of the POW. They aren’t USA Awards. Nevertheless they were given by foreign organisations in recognition of his charitable efforts.

In December 2010, the German charity Ein Herz für Kinder ("A Heart for Children") awarded him its Golden Heart Award, in recognition of his "charitable and humanitarian efforts". On 7 May 2012, the Atlantic Council awarded him its Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership Award.
In August 2018, the Royal Canadian Legion granted him the 2018 Founders Award for his role in founding the Invictus Games.] In October 2018, he was presented with the RSA Badge in Gold, the organisation's highest honour, for his work with injured veterans.[

 

[Silverpot]

These organisations or foundations, or whatever, don't award people for the work they've done, but for the publicity it will bring to themselves. That's why the ones who really deserve an honour rarely gets one.

 

[HenRach Dominion]

Has there been any complaint by anyone involved with the Invictus Games with regards to Prince Harry receiving an ESPY award? Or any complaint about his continued presence within the Invictus organization? Or any negative consequences towards the Invictus Games in the last several years, like a decrease in participation (I maybe mistaken, but I heard that more countries wanted to participate in the IG recently)?

If the answers to these is no, then why would the Invictus Games as an organization minimize their main figurehead, especially if they don't have someone as equally visible and involved in the armed forces lined up?

 

[Curryong]

These organisations or foundations, or whatever, don't award people for the work they've done, but for the publicity it will bring to themselves. That's why the ones who really deserve an honour rarely gets one.

The Royal Canadian Legion (one of the organisations I referenced) certainly doesn’t need publicity and didn’t when it gave Harry its Awards. It is the official Canadian Vets Association.

In November 1925, the Canadian Legion was founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Services League, incorporated by a 1926 special Act of Parliament. It grew steadily through the 1930s, then expanded rapidly following the Second World War. In 1960, Queen Elizabeth II granted it royal patronage and so it became the Royal Canadian Legion. The Canadian Governor General is its Patron.

 

[Durham]

How about we start off with Awards he received when he was a working royal and son of the POW. They aren’t USA Awards. Nevertheless they were given by foreign organisations in recognition of his charitable efforts.

In December 2010, the German charity Ein Herz für Kinder ("A Heart for Children") awarded him its Golden Heart Award, in recognition of his "charitable and humanitarian efforts". On 7 May 2012, the Atlantic Council awarded him its Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership Award.
In August 2018, the Royal Canadian Legion granted him the 2018 Founders Award for his role in founding the Invictus Games.] In October 2018, he was presented with the RSA Badge in Gold, the organisation's highest honour, for his work with injured veterans.[

Any member of the rf being given individual awards is plain stupid. They’re just doing their job.

Being given awards once they clear off to make money is an even higher level of dumb for the organisations involved.

Harry Windsor is not Mother Teresa cum Martin Luther King cum Biggles despite what baubles adorn his mantelpiece.

 

[rominet09]

Quite agree !

 

[Curryong]

When has Harry (or any of his supporters for that matter) ever claimed that he was at all any combination of those characters? I’ve never known Harry boast about any award that he’s received.

 

[SirGyamfi1]

Any member of the rf being given individual awards is plain stupid. They’re just doing their job.

Being given awards once they clear off to make money is an even higher level of dumb for the organisations involved.

Harry Windsor is not Mother Teresa cum Martin Luther King cum Biggles despite what baubles adorn his mantelpiece.

No to mention when they received an award from NAACP for “fighting structural racism” in 2022.

 

[shady lady]

Various sources report that Mary Tillman, the mother of Pat Tillman has criticised the decision to give the award to PH.

Backlash grows after Prince Harry wins award set up to honour war hero

Harry will receive the memorial award set up in the name of Pat Tillman - an American football star who gave up a £3million contract to enlist in the US Army after 9/11.

www.dailymail.co.uk

‘I am shocked as to why they would select such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award.

‘There are recipients that are far more fitting. There are individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans.

‘These individuals do not have the money, resources, connections or privilege that Prince Harry has. I feel that those types of individuals should be recognised.’

Says it all really IMO.

 

[Hallo girl]

I do find it rather ironic that an award in the name of a hero who volunteered to enlist in the military and gave his life for his country when he didn't need to is handed to Prince Harry.

 

[Curryong]

Harry undertook two terms of service in Afghanistan when he didn’t strictly need to, the second time in Apache helicopters within the Army Air Services. It’s hardly his ‘fault’ that he didn’t get killed. He was in a war zone and could have died for his country as well.

And we don’t know what Mrs Tillman truly knows of Harry’s help for veterans for well over a decade (for instance his ‘Walking With The Wounded’) or for his work for Invictus. She may just regard him as a privileged British Prince who’s done very little for vets, which would be wrong.

 

[winifred]

Have the ESPYs ever honoured the Warrior Games in any way? I know ESPN is showing the Games this year but am wondering about individual (say, John Wordin) or collective recognition?

 

[Hallo girl]

Harry undertook two terms of service in Afghanistan when he didn’t strictly need to, the second time in Apache helicopters within the Army Air Services. It’s hardly his ‘fault’ that he didn’t get killed. He was in a war zone and could have died for his country as well.

And we don’t know what Mrs Tillman truly knows of Harry’s help for veterans for well over a decade (for instance his ‘Walking With The Wounded’) or for his work for Invictus. She may just regard him as a privileged British Prince who’s done very little for vets, which would be wrong.

I do not dispute that Harry served in the army, I was thinking more about the fact that Harry left the country of his birth while miscalling the citizens and his family.
Could I just add, that at no time did I comment on Harry being killed.

 

[Chimene]

The problem is very simple. Tillman abandoned his life to honor and serve his country. Harry abandoned his honor and country to serve himself.

As it stands now, he is using wounded soldiers to serve himself even further. He served in the army and left only to boast about his kill counts again for CASH.

What has he done really, except a whole lot of publicity, most of it not even positive, for the last six years?

 

[shady lady]

I do not dispute that Harry served in the army, I was thinking more about the fact that Harry left the country of his birth while miscalling the citizens and his family.

Exactly, and I'm sure Mrs Tillman is well aware of that!

And whatever she knows (and she probably knows more than people might think), I consider her judgment on this to be sound.

Anything good PH may have done in the past does not excuse or justify his bad behaviour either.

 

[Queen Claude]

Quote from Tillman’s mother in same the article above.

She added: ‘He publicly disrespected his family, ran away from service to his country as a royal… He is unworthy of this award.’

The problem is very simple. Tillman abandoned his life to honor and serve his country. Harry abandoned his honor and country to serve himself.

As it stands now, he is using wounded soldiers to serve himself even further. He served in the army and left only to boast about his kill counts again for CASH.

What has he done really, except a whole lot of publicity, most of it not even positive, for the last six years?

The quote above is not from Tillman's mother. There is a petition being circulated to have ESPN reconsider Harry as the recipient of the award and this is a quote from one of the signers of the petition.

 

[Chimene]

The quote above is not from Tillman's mother. There is a petition being circulated to have ESPN reconsider Harry as the recipient of the award and this is a quote from one of the signers of the petition.

I stand corrected, and I removed it from my post. Thank you!

 

[shady lady]

I stand corrected, and I removed it from my post. Thank you!

It's a valid observation in any case

 

[Chimene]

It's a valid observation in any case

True. I’m allergic to DM, so I always skim when I need to reference it to make a point, but clearly I should be more thorough.

 

[Durham]

When has Harry (or any of his supporters for that matter) ever claimed that he was at all any combination of those characters? I’ve never known Harry boast about any award that he’s received.

He is wrong to accept personal awards.

The proper response would be to suggest someone else & maybe offer to give it to them.

 

[Hallo girl]

No to mention when they received an award from NAACP for “fighting structural racism” in 2022.

That he then denied saying.

 

[Lee-Z]

He is wrong to accept personal awards.

The proper response would be to suggest someone else & maybe offer to give it to them.

it's already on the sussex.com website, so i doubt that'll happen
ESPYS 2024 | The Office of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex

And it's also good publicity, as quoted from this article
"This award recognition for Prince Harry is not only a testament to his dedication to supporting veterans but also an excellent opportunity for positive publicity and to showcase his work in front of peers and specially invited guests across a genre of media."
And publicity is what matters in the world Harry and Meghan live in now

 

[HenRach Dominion]

If Prince Harry shouldn’t have received the reward for the Invictus Games, who within the Invictus Games organization do you feel is more deserving of an ESPY?

And if you believe that Prince Harry’s actions outside of his work with/for military disqualifies him from receiving awards specifically pertaining to that, why is that so?

Finally, although royals generally (but not exclusively) do not receive awards for what they do, many private citizens do. Why is it wrong for Prince Harry, a private citizen, to receive one?

 

[Hallo girl]

If Prince Harry shouldn’t have received the reward for the Invictus Games, who within the Invictus Games organization do you feel is more deserving of an ESPY?

And if you believe that Prince Harry’s actions outside of his work with/for military disqualifies him from receiving awards specifically pertaining to that, why is that so?

Finally, although royals generally (but not exclusively) do not receive awards for what they do, many private citizens do. Why is it wrong for Prince Harry, a private citizen, to receive one?

And there lies the issue HenRach,
Is he a private citizen ?
Is he the son of the King therefore deserves special attention, as he himself requests via his court case against His Majesties Government for security?
Is he an HRH and if so can he be a private citizen?
None of the above stop him receiving an award, I think it is whether people think he is deserving of the award, are there others more deserving. That comes down to opinion

 

[Chimene]

Harry has done nothing to warrant getting this award. Harry shows up for events for IG for publicity and nothing more. It’s exactly as Pat Tillman’s mom stated, and I do hope that I’m quoting her correctly this time, here:

The soldier’s mother Mary said she was not consulted, adding: ‘I am shocked as to why they would select such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award.

‘There are recipients that are far more fitting. There are individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans.

‘These individuals do not have the money, resources, connections or privilege that Prince Harry has. I feel that those types of individuals should be recognized.’

That’s essentially what Harry does. He uses his privilege and connections to stack up on undeserved awards that serve him no purpose whatsoever. Well, I take that back. It serves him to pretend he’s doing something useful although to the benefit of no one other than himself.

 

[HenRach Dominion]

And there lies the issue HenRach,
Is he a private citizen ?
Is he the son of the King therefore deserves special attention, as he himself requests via his court case against His Majesties Government for security?
Is he an HRH and if so can he be a private citizen?
None of the above stop him receiving an award, I think it is whether people think he is deserving of the award, are there others more deserving. That comes down to opinion

All very good points.

I always got the impression that Prince Harry’s security suits were less about his position as son of the king and more about how that position and the makeup of his family has led them to being particularly targeted, which made the extra security necessary. Of course, it’s up to the British security services to decide that.

Also, if maintaining the HRH in spite of not using it makes Prince Harry a representative of Great Britain forever, then it’s going to be impossible for him to stake out any independent enterprise if, for example, opening an ice cream shop will be tied to his being a Prince of England.

But I’ll ask a question I asked before: who would have been more deserving of the ESPY? Since this is specifically the Sussex forum, which organizer or participant deserved the award more, and how could Prince Harry magnify their voice better?

 

[tommy100]

Invictus deserves the award - they should have given it to Invictus itself not to Harry personally.