Prince Harry faces a “complication” as he prepares to accept the Pat Tillman Award on what will be a “big night” in Los Angeles, royal expert Michael Cole has told GB News.
The Duke of Sussex is under pressure to reject the award which is named after an American war hero - with over 70,000 signatures on a petition demanding for the decision for it to be awarded to him to be reversed.
Cole told Nana Akua and Ben Leo that Harry should “discreetly” shun the award, but any potential rejection now would face a key “complication”.
“If he was taking PR advice from me, he would discreetly and politely decline the award”, he said.
Prince Harry is preparing to accept a military award
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“Or, he would not go in person to collect it. But there is a complication, as the host of the evening is Serena Williams.
“Of course we all know that she is a big pal of Meghan Markle’s. Whether he will be able to duck this out is uncertain.
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“Interestingly, Admiral Lord West, the former Royal Navy commander echoed the same sentiments.
“He said Harry shouldn’t go forward because it is controversial and I think we should respect what Mary Tillman says.”
Mary Tillman is Pat’s mother, and she has expressed concern about the award being handed to the duke.
Harry is being honoured for his work with the Invictus Games, a multi sport competition for wounded, injured and sick veterans.
Michael Cole urged Harry to reject the award
GB NEWS
Cole said on GB News that the backlash over the decision to hand Harry the award is emblematic of American sentiment towards the duke.
“In America, they don’t like what Prince Harry did”, he said.
“They don’t like him disrespecting the late Queen and the Royal Family. They respected the late Queen very much.
“They see, quite rightly, that the King is our commander-in-chief as well as being the monarch.
Michael Cole joined Ben Leo and Nana Akua on GB News
GB NEWS
“What Harry has done by going into self-imposed exile and the things he said about the Princess of Wales and the King hasn’t sat well with the Americans.”
Admiral Lord West said Harry accepting the award would be “bad publicity”.
“I really think Harry should be well advised to sit back and not accept awards like this,” the Labour peer told the Daily Mail.
“It doesn’t travel well with people in the military. And when the mother of the man who died doesn’t want him to get this award, he should think about that.
“My advice to him is to sit back and not accept any awards at the moment. They are going his way because he has such a high profile and people want to take advantage of that.”
