Prince Harry urged to do the ‘honourable thing for once’ after ‘controversial’ award nod

Prince Harry "needs to do the honourable thing" and "just say no" to an award for which he's controversially been nominated, according to a royal expert.

Richard Eden, the diary editor for the Daily Mail, made the comments while speaking on the Daily Mail's Palace Confidential podcast on YouTube with fellow royal commentators Rebecca English and Charlotte Griffiths.

The Duke of Sussex was set to receive the Pat Tillman Award for Service, named after the former NFL player Pat Tillman who left the sport to serve in the US military after 9/11, but was tragically killed by friendly fire in 2004.

Eden said: "I just think for once, Harry needs to do the honourable thing and you know, just say no; turn it down.

"Erm, what I've written for a piece for Mail+ in my newsletter this week is that Harry should say, 'you know what, actually, I won't accept this because the last thing the organisers of this event want is this kind of controversy'."

He continued: "You know, it's a great award that's meant to be honouring erm, someone who's, you know, put service before personal gain, and it really isn't appropriate for Harry to get it.

"So I said, if you know, if he's a gentleman, if he's got a sense of shame, he won't accept it."

The nomination has angered some people, including Tillman's mother, who said there were "far more fitting" people for the award, leading to a petition asking ESPN To change its decision.

Rebecca English, the royal editor for the Daily Mail, said the matter was causing "controversy" and mentioned Tillman's mother, who she said found the decision "really outrageous" to nominate someone so "divisive" and "controversial".

When asked if Harry should contact Mrs Tillman, Charlotte Griffiths, the editor at large for the Mail on Sunday, said: "I think it would really win her over."

She claimed: "She's obviously a very outspoken woman. She.. maybe he'll change her mind, and then he can have the last laugh, which he loves having over the press because of course we picked up on the fact she's not happy about this.

"And if he could somehow charm her. I mean there was a time when Harry was really very charming, and he was great with people like this.

"It's such a shame that that's kind of got lost over the years because he's become so obsessed with his own ego."

In an interview for the Daily Mail, Mrs Tillman said there are people working in the veteran community doing "tremendous things" but don't have the "money, resources, connections, or privilege that Prince Harry has".

Harry was set to receive the award for his work with the Invictus Games, which was launched ten years ago as a sports tournament for injured or sick service personnel.