Why no Coronation medal, Harry?
THE Duke of Sussex is facing a backlash for not wearing his Coronation medal when he presented a military award.
Prince Harry, 39, wore four medals in a video to honour Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks, from Arizona, who was named Soldier of the Year by the US publication Military Times.
The Duke displayed his Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan, his Golden Jubilee Medal, Diamond Jubilee Medal and Platinum Jubilee Medal. His spokesman declined to comment on why he did not wear the Coronation medal that is believed to have been awarded to him on his father’s accession last year.
The nickel silver medal was given to just 400 recipients as a token of thanks to those who contributed to last year’s service.
It appears to be the second time that Harry has chosen not to wear the Coronation medal. The duke wore the same four gongs during a comedy skit for a Stand Up for Heroes event in November.
Royal biographer Hugo Vickers said: ‘Harry should have been wearing the Coronation medal. If he’s going to put on his medals, he should get them right. It’s very careless of him not to do so.
‘Obviously the implication is that he is not showing respect to his father by not wearing the Coronation medal, but I suspect he just hasn’t bothered to get it mounted. Maybe it’s difficult to do that in California, but to my mind it is just carelessness.’
Military expert Philip Ingram added: ‘The Americans won’t have the right medal ribbon to get the Coronation medal mounted. An unmounted medal would have looked very scruffy. For that reason I’d say it’s unlikely he is snubbing his father’s Coronation, but you can’t rule it out.’
However royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told The Sun that he believed it was a deliberate move and will ‘be seen as a snub to King Charles’.
Prince Harry filmed the message to SFC Marks, 33, from the back door of his Montecito mansion. He first met the five-time Paralympic medallist at the 2016 Invictus Games.
She suffered bilateral hip injuries while serving in Iraq in 2010 and, in 2017, her left leg was amputated below the knee.