Adding more to the awkwardness, Prince Harry is also facing isolation from his military community ahead of the award show.
The event will see the Duke of Sussex getting honored with the Pat Tillman award, a decision that has sparked major controversy.
The late war hero’s mother Mary Tillman also has also called Harry a “divisive and controversial” figure as a Change.org petition is also urging ESPN to “rethink” its decision.
As bizarre as Harry’s attendance might be, he will also be facing his military peers at the event after making controversial remarks in memoir Spare.
In 2023, he described killing 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan as “chess pieces taken off the board”.
“There were very clear signs from the military in Britain that they were extremely unhappy with many of the comments made in Spare and on several chat shows,” a royal commentator Gareth Russell told GB News.
He added, “I don’t think there’s any doubt that many in the military felt he had broken a code or broken protocol, and that means a great deal within the British military.”
“Even those who have admiration for the Invictus Games have said that they felt the comments in Spare were isolating and inappropriate,” Gareth concluded.