Prince Harry must be feeling the ‘weight of criticism’ while accepting Pat Tillman Award, claimed a former royal butler.

Despite widespread criticism and a petition with over 70,000 signatures protesting the decision, the Duke of Sussex accepted the award at a Hollywood ceremony.

During his speech, Meghan Markle’s husband praised the "eternal" bond between a mother and son, while also hailing Tillman's mother Mary for her "advocacy for Pat's legacy.”

Sharing his take on the matter, former Royal Butler Grant Harrold said that he believes the backlash over him accepting the award will be "weighing on his shoulders.”

"This is quite a personal thing to him because obviously his acts of service over the years, including in Afghanistan, starting the Invictus Games, which is always what this word was connected to,” he told GB News.

"He'll be aware of what's being said, of the kind of feedback and also of the mother who has obviously voiced her concerns,” Harrold added.

Harrold went on to add that he was unsure if Harry would accept the award, especially since Tillman's mother was not consulted about the decision and controversy was brewing around it.

"I wasn't sure if he would accept it, but obviously the advice he was given was 'why not?'” he said. "Because of his background, everything kind of makes sense for him to go ahead and accept it.”

“But obviously the petition did gather quite a few names."