Prince Harry comes out fighting as he and Meghan Markle smile through the pain - analysis by Svar Nanan-Sen

The royal's nomination for the award sparked weeks of furious backlash as many felt Harry was undeserving of the honour.

Pat Tillman gave up a lucrative career in the NFL to enlist as an Army Ranger in 2002 and served in Iraq and then Afghanistan, where he was killed by friendly fire in 2004.

The US war hero's mother, Mary Tillman, publicly condemned the decision to award the Duke of Sussex the honour named after her son.

The backlash was not limited to the Tillman family, over 70,000 people signed a petition demanding ESPN rethink the decision.

For Prince Harry, who is passionate about helping the military community and has made it one of his missions, the furious reaction will have hurt.

Sources close to the Duke of Sussex confirmed the royal had been left stunned by the level of anger towards his nomination.

ESPN released a statement reiterating that Prince Harry was being recognised for his work with the Invictus Games, which he set up a decade ago during his time as a working royal.

The prince remains tightly connected to the sporting event and has promoted the 2025 edition of the games, which will take place in Canada, throughout this year.

Harry also heavily featured in the Netflix documentary Heart of Invictus which was released in 2023.

During the ESPYS the Duke was photographed smiling alongside Jake Wood, a former recipient of the Pat Tillman Award who defended Harry's nomination publicly.

However, one of the most memorable images of Harry during the award ceremony came as his friend and host of the event Serena Williams delivered a joke at the Sussexes' expense.

Williams, who is particularly close to Meghan, joked about her hosting being overshadowed by accusations the couple were "taking up too much oxygen".

Harry and Meghan smiled awkwardly during the moment which brought further attention to them on a night when the Duke of Sussex was already facing scrutiny.

Despite this, when Harry delivered his acceptance speech he chose to address the public criticism head-on.

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The royal addressed Mary Tillman in his statement saying that he respected her and that he was not accepting the Pat Tilman Award for Service as Prince Harry but rather as a representative of the Invictus Games Foundation.

It was a bold move but one that Harry felt he had to make after he was branded a "divisive" figure by Pat Tilman's mother.

The ESPYS were the peak of a highly uncomfortable situation for Harry, he may now take time to lick his wounds after a bruising few weeks of backlash.