The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s departure from royal life has been incredibly well-publicised – something which has been boosted by the fact that the couple have given a number of interviews in the four years since they stepped down from their royal roles.

And, following reports that the warm feeling many Americans had for Prince Harry and Meghan has cooled, a leading royal expert examines how this will be making the couple – but particularly the savvy Duchess – feel.

Reflecting on Harry’s recent decision to accept the controversial Pat Tillman award, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond exclusively told OK!: “I think it was something of an own goal for Harry to accept this award when it was clear the Tillman family – and a significant percentage of Americans – were against it.”

Jennie continued: “It might have been wiser either to decline, or to nominate one of his Invictus heroes as a worthy winner.

“I suppose Americans have now got used to the novelty of having a British prince making his home in their country, and inevitably some of the gloss is wearing off. But Harry remains an immensely likeable man, and I’m sure his personality makes him as popular as ever with people he associates with.

“Fame is often a double edged sword: one minute you are sitting atop a pedestal of adoration, and the next you are unroyally knocked off it. I don’t imagine that Harry takes a great deal of interest in random polls about their popularity… but media savvy Meghan might find it rather harder to swallow.”

Jennie’s comments come after US-based royal commentator Lee Cohen said that the Sussexes once “epitomised a modern fairy-tale”, but now believes their “whining” has changed all that – and the US’s love affair with the pair has “significantly cooled”.

He wrote in The US Sun: “Harry and Meghan just love to complain. And in America’s largely optimistic society, that is a bad look. While some view the couple’s openness as a brave stance against institutional rigidity, many others perceive it as ungrateful and divisive.

“A segment of Americans, particularly those of us who respect and admire the monarchy, find these repeated criticisms disrespectful and unbecoming. So the Sussexes’ endless narrative of grievance has alienated many who once admired their candour.”

The experts views emerge after a new survey found that nearly four out of 10 Americans think Prince Harry was wrong to receive the Pat Tillman Award.

Harry picked up the service award, which is traditionally given to military heroes, in a glamorous ceremony at the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles. Tillman’s own mother Mary slammed the decision to give him the award that honour’s her dead son labelling Harry ‘a controversial and divisive individual’.

The decision to accept the award triggered a backlash as more than 76,000 people signed a petition demanding the decision was reversed, while he has now come under pressure to hand the trophy back.

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