Thanks to his feud with the rest of the royal family, royal fans are often skeptical of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex’s actions and intentions. 

Even one seemingly simple fashion choice had the public questioning his motives. 

In April 2024, the Duke of Sussex was given the honor of presenting the Military Times’ “Soldier of the Year” award. 

Yet, his choice to appear on camera showing off his own military award without the medal his father gave him made for some complicated optics.

When he appeared onscreen via Zoom, Harry was standing outside of the Montecito, California mansion that he and Meghan Markle moved into in 2020. 

On his jacket, he wore an Afghanistan campaign medal, which was given to members of the military who served active duty while in Afghanistan, 

and three Jubilee medals: a Golden Jubilee medal, Diamond Jubilee medal, and Platinum Jubilee medal. The medals Harry chose to wear that weren’t awarded to him for his military service were given to him by Queen Elizabeth II. Yet, he didn’t sport his Coronation medal, which King Charles III gave to him for his coronation in 2023. This choice may have been a sign of Harry’s feud with his father. Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Newsweek, “Those eligible who were involved in the coronation were given a medal. The Sussexes do nothing by chance and this clearly emphasizes or is intended to emphasize his distance from the royal family.”

Prince Harry’s display of medals sent a clear message

From an outside perspective, the choice to wear medals given to him by his grandmother and not the one from his father certainly does seem suspicious, especially considering the timeline of Harry’s split with the royals. Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022, two years after Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior royals. Yet, it was after her death that things got particularly frosty. Harry’s memoir, “Spare,” was released and caused further friction with the family. The Sussexes were kicked out of their Frogmore Cottage home, and Meghan skipped out on Charles’ coronation. The choice, after all of this, to keep the one medal from his father off of his suit jacket while proudly displaying those from Elizabeth does seem to make a statement about where Harry’s allegiances lie.

Harry’s choice to don his Afghanistan campaign medal was also controversial. The duke spent a decade in the UK military, serving in two tours in Afghanistan, and retired in 2015 after becoming both a captain and an Apache Aircraft commander. Yet, Harry’s titles and honors have become a bit muddled since he left the royal family and moved to the U.S. His choice to end his time as a working royal meant that he had to give up royal duties and security, as well as his military titles. For this reason, some fans were surprised that when presenting the “Soldier of the Year” award, Harry sported a military medal.

The internet went wild with judgment

It would be easy for most royal fans to overlook the medals Prince Harry chose to wear to present an award. Yet, gossip about the significance of his attire took the internet by storm. “How pathetic is Prince Harry,” one X user captioned a video of the duke giving the “Soldier of the Year” award. “He needs someone to advise him on optics. The participation medals are a sad cry for ‘looook at meeeeeeee,'” one commenter noted.

Regardless of whether Harry’s formal military titles were taken from him when he chose to step away from the royal family, he did in fact, serve in the military. Consequently, some fans argued that this earned him the right to display a military medal — especially when presenting an award due to his veteran status. “He is entitled to wear his medals,” said one X user. Another even took a shot at Harry’s estranged family members, writing, “Well he earned them! Unlike the rest of the royals.” While fans aren’t in agreement about whether Harry deserves to wear his medals as he chooses, one thing is clear: we can expect anything the Sussexes do to be under a microscope.

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Source: USA Today