Meghan Markle and Prince Harry skip red carpet at the 2024 ESPYs
The royals were forced to attend an event where Prince Harry was being honoured, but they skipped a formality amid mounting controversy.
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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have attended the ESPY Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Amid controversy over Harry’s special honour on the night, the royal couple pointedly skipped the red carpet Thursday night and made their way directly into the theatre before taking their seats, where the Duchess of Sussex was photographed with her hand on the Duke’s knee.
Harry, 39, wore a classic black suit with a matching black tie for the event, where he accepted the award for his Invictus Games work.
Meanwhile, Markle, 42, wore a white halter gown, which she paired with black, strappy sandals, a single bracelet, diamond earrings and her wedding ring from Harry. Her hair was slicked back into a low bun.
The ceremony’s host, tennis legend Serena Williams, announced the couple’s presence at the event from onstage, before making a joke about the media attention they receive.
“Please, Harry and Meghan, try not to breathe too much tonight, because this is my night,” said Williams, who is close friends with Markle.
“And I don’t want to be overshadowed by the accusations that you guys are taking up too much oxygen, OK?”
The pair made their appearance as the Duke of Sussex was set to receive the Pat Tillman Award for Service.
Last month, ESPN announced that Harry would be one of the recipients of the prestigious honour.
“It’s our privilege to recognise three incredible individuals — Steve Gleason, Dawn Staley and Prince Harry,” Kate Jackson, VP of Production at ESPN, said in a statement at the time.
“These honorees have used their platforms to change the world and make it more inclusive for marginalised and suffering communities, demonstrating incredible resilience, positivity and perseverance, and we’re thrilled to celebrate them at The 2024 ESPYS.”
The Spare author served in the UK military in Afghanistan and also founded the Invictus Games — an international sporting event for wounded, injured and sick service members and veterans — in 2014.
While Harry, who resigned from his royal duties in 2020, has used his time to help benefit military personnel, not everyone was happy with him receiving the award.
The mother of the slain US hero Pat Tillman, whom the award is named after, Mary Tillman, claimed the network never consulted her about the duke being awarded the honour.
Her late son, a former NFL safety, enlisted as an Army Ranger after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
“I am shocked as to why they would select such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award,” Mary told the Daily Mail.
“There are recipients that are far more fitting,” she added. “There are individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans.”
Network insiders told Page Six that Mary is not associated with the Pat Tillman Foundation and has never been informed during the selection process of past recipients. However, other sources told us that Mary was, indeed, told of the decision in previous years.
ESPN analyst Pat McAfee also slammed the decision to honour Harry and claimed the network was “trying to p*ss people off” with the controversial choice.
“It’s going to Prince Harry, who I don’t even think is a Prince anymore, right? He said don’t call me that? See, why does the ESPYs do this s**t?” McAfee said on his talk show.
“This is like actually the most embarrassing thing I’ve seen in my entire life,” he added.
Harry, for his part, previously stated that he was honoured to receive the nomination, saying at the time, “This one is for our entire service community.”
This story originally appeared on New York Post and was reproduced with permission
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