Prince Harry is said to be “stunned” over the backlash he’s facing as he prepares to receive an award named in honor of a fallen soldier and promising NFL player.

ESPN previously announced that the Duke of Sussex would be this year’s recipient of the esteemed Pat Tillman Award for Service at the 2024 ESPY Awards, which takes place on Thursday in Los Angeles.

British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital that Harry should have graciously declined the award in response to the controversy.

His refusal to turn down the Pat Tillman Award, despite suffering a furious backlash with the petition urging ESPN to reconsider its decision… tangibly shows how his popularity has plummeted,” Fordwich claimed.

“The latest to lash out at him is Admiral Lord Alan West, Former Royal Navy Chief and Labour peer, saying that ‘he ought to think very hard and long’ about accepting this particular award as it ‘doesn’t travel well with people in the military,’” said Fordwich. “… He further added to ‘sit back and not accept awards like this.’”

“This entire debacle points to Harry’s lack of experience and understanding of the commercial sector, the… world he has chosen to operate in,” Fordwich continued. “ESPN wants to honor Harry not for what he has done, since many others have done and accomplished more, per [Tillman’s mother] Mary Tillman, but because it generates huge publicity for them whilst harming Harry with exceptionally bad publicity.”

But not everyone agrees.

“It’s rare that I find myself coming to Prince Harry’s defense these days, but in this instance, I have to,” Christopher Andersen, author of “The King,” told Fox News Digital. “It’s not Harry’s fault that he was offered the Pat Tillman Award. What was he supposed to do? Turn it down? How tacky would that have been?”

The younger son of King Charles III, who served in the British Army for 10 years, is being recognized for his work with the Invictus Games, an international sporting event for wounded service men and women. The 39-year-old launched the international event in 2014, one year before stepping down from active duty.

Harry obviously considered it a great honor and given what he has done for wounded veterans through his Invictus Games, the Duke of Sussex certainly seemed a logical choice,” said Andersen.

“Harry is so proud of his military service and Invictus that it’s no wonder he is stunned by the backlash,” Andersen continued. “First his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, strips him of all his ceremonial military titles and uniforms, and now this. Harry is used to being raked over the coals, but this is a genuine heartbreak for him.”

Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for comment.

It is understood that Harry has no plans to turn down the award. The Telegraph previously reported that Harry was “stunned” by the heat he faced, and it was “a bitter pill to swallow.”

“Harry’s legacy on Invictus, the things he has achieved, that’s his real passion,” a source told the outlet. “This is the space in which he truly feels at home, it is something he deeply cares about. The reaction certainly took the shine off the award.”

The announcement first raised eyebrows when Mary Tillman, the late hero’s mother, claimed she was never consulted about the decision to award Harry with the prestigious honor.

I am shocked as to why they would select such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award,” the matriarch told the UK’s DailyMail.

“There are recipients that are far more fitting,” she said. “There are individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans.”

Mary noted that ESPN should have chosen someone who has never been in the spotlight and highlighted their heroic efforts.

“I have said all that I will say on this matter,” Mary told Fox News Digital.

The Pat Tillman Foundation, which Mary is not associated with, has been selecting recipients since the award was established in 2014. Mary has never been consulted or privy to recipients in the past.

ESPN analyst Pat McAfee accused his network of “trying to piss people off” for picking the royal.

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