Prince Harry is not one to shy away from controversy, as he accepted the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the 2024 ESPYs Thursday night. He tried to make right by Tillman’s mother, who had previously expressed she did not approve the foundation’s choice.
In an interview last month with Daily Mail, Mary Tillman said she was “shocked as to why they would select such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award.”
Upon accepting the award at the star-studded event, Harry acknowledged Mary who was in the audience.
“The bond between a mother and son is eternal and transcends even the greatest losses,” he said. His words seemed to not only extend to Mary but to his own mother as well, Princess Diana, who tragically died in 1997 when he was 12 years old.
Prince Harry was introduced by three veterans and former award winners, including US Air Force Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro Jr., and he requested all three remain on stage with him as he accepted the honor. He was chosen as this year’s recipient for founding the Invictus Games, a foundation that provides athletic and healing opportunities to wounded veterans.
“I stand here not as Prince Harry, Pat Tillman Award recipient, but rather a voice on behalf of the Invictus Games Foundation and the thousands of veterans and service personnel from over 20 nations who have made the Invictus Games a reality,” he continued in his speech. “This award belongs to them, not to me.” Watch his speech below.
He attended the event with his wife Meghan Markle.
“No matter the road ahead, we are here for you. We will leave no one behind.”
-Prince Harry after accepting the Pat Tillman Award for Service ❤️ pic.twitter.com/8VBXBggYP4
— ESPN (@espn) July 12, 2024
The ESPYs launched the Pat Tillman Award for Service in 2014 in honor of the late NFL star, who left the Arizona Cardinals to serve in Iraq and then Afghanistan after the September 11 terrorist attacks. He was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004.
The Tillman Award is given to individuals who have made significant contributions in the world which echo the legacy of the former NFL player. Former recipients include Marcus Rashford, a soccer player who raised millions of dollars for food charity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Danielle Green, a former basketball player who was injured in military combat, among many others.