Prince Harry came out fighting at a glitzy award ceremony in Hollywood this week as all eyes were on him.
The Duke of Sussex attended the ESPYS alongside his wife, Meghan Markle, and received the Pat Tillman Award for Service.
The royal's nomination for the award sparked weeks of furious backlash as many felt Harry was undeserving of the honour.
Pat Tillman gave up a lucrative career in the NFL to enlist as an Army Ranger in 2002 and served in Iraq and then Afghanistan, where he was killed by friendly fire in 2004.
The US war hero's mother, Mary Tillman, publicly condemned the decision to award the Duke of Sussex the honour named after her son.
The backlash was not limited to the Tillman family, over 70,000 people signed a petition demanding ESPN rethink the decision.
For Prince Harry, who is passionate about helping the military community and has made it one of his missions, the furious reaction will have hurt.
Sources close to the Duke of Sussex confirmed the royal had been left stunned by the level of anger towards his nomination.
ESPN released a statement reiterating that Prince Harry was being recognised for his work with the Invictus Games, which he set up a decade ago during his time as a working royal.
The prince remains tightly connected to the sporting event and has promoted the 2025 edition of the games, which will take place in Canada, throughout this year.
Harry also heavily featured in the Netflix documentary Heart of Invictus which was released in 2023.
During the ESPYS the Duke was photographed smiling alongside Jake Wood, a former recipient of the Pat Tillman Award who defended Harry's nomination publicly.
