‘I have to wonder if she’s got her fingerprints on this’: Meghan Markle possibly behind Prince Harry’s ESPY Award

Meghan Markle may have pulled strings using her A-list contacts to secure Prince Harry’s controversial ESPY Award nod, a royal commentator has claimed.

Meghan Markle may have leaned on her A-list friends to secure Prince Harry the prestigious Pat Tillman award at the ESPYs, a royal commentator has claimed.

Harry, 39, will receive the Pat Tillman Award for Service at this year’s ESPY Sports Awards on July 11 in recognition of his Invictus Games foundation.

The Duke of Sussex is one of three recipients receiving the gong this year – which is named in honour of late NFL player and U.S. Army Ranger Pat Tillman and handed out by sports cable broadcaster ESPN.

The late soldier’s mother Mary Tillman slammed ESPN for honouring the Duke of Sussex and pointed out that there “more fitting” recipients for the award.

“I am shocked as to why they would select such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award,” she told British newspaper the Daily Mail last week.

“There are individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans.”

On Saturday, British newspaper editor and royal commentator Charlotte Griffiths joined the chorus of calls for ESPN to rescind the honour and alleged Meghan Markle may have stepped in to secure the award for Harry.

“This is actually very serious,” Ms Griffiths told GB News on Saturday.

“There’s a grieving mother involved and (Mary Tillman) said: ‘Look, I don’t know if you’re filming your Netflix documentary, but you can’t just make life about promoting yourself because sometimes there’s a serious message behind these events that you attend.’”

The insider also suggested that Meghan herself may have pulled strings to convince ESPN to give Harry the award via the Duchess of Sussex’s friendship with tennis star Serena Williams.

“Serena Williams is presenting the award and she’s a very good friend of Meghan Markle,” she said.

“I have to think, I have to wonder if Meghan’s got her fingerprints on this.”

The furore is not the first time ESPN has copped criticism for its choice of recipients, who sometimes have little tangible connection to the world of sports.

In 2015, organisers raised eyebrows over their decision to present the Arthur Ashe Courage Award to 1976 Olympian turned reality star Caitlyn Jenner shortly after her gender transition.

The Sussexes have amassed an impressive trophy case over the past four years despite largely devoting their time to commercial ventures with Netflix and Spotify and Harry’s memoir Spare.

Among the honours, Harry and Meghan have also received a “President’s Award” by Black civil rights organisation NAACP and a “Ripple of Hope Award” from the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organisation.