Prince Harry faces backlash for 'embarrassing' and 'ridiculous' decision to wear UK 'participation' medals to present US army award

Prince Harry has been criticised for his 'embarrassing' decision to wear UK 'participation' medals while handing out an award to a top-performing American soldier.

The Duke of Sussex, 39, wore an assortment of medals on his jacket as he named combat medic Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks the Military Times Soldier of the Year, including three marking his grandmother's various Jubilees this century.

Royal observers were quick to point out that absent from the prince's lapels was the Coronation medal given to him and others who were involved in King Charles' formal ascension to the throne last May. 

Experts believe the absence of the honour could be a snub to his father. The medals also match those Harry chose to wear as he attended the Coronation.

However, critics on social media have now criticised Harry's decision to wear the medals at all, dubbing them 'participation medals' and asking: 'Out of everyone in the world they chose Harry?!'

Prince Harry wore a series of medals to present a US combat medic with a Soldier of the Year Award via video message

Another person complained: 'We didn't have an American Veteran who could do this?'

But some were quick to point out that the person being honoured - Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks - participated in the Invictus Games in 2016. This is an international sporting event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women founded by Prince Harry.

A social media user said: 'I remember her from the Invictus Games in 2016! Very special that he presented the award to her after all these years.' 

Despite this, Prince Harry was criticised for his decision to wear British Army medals.

One person said this decision was 'embarrassing', claiming the medals looked 'ridiculous'.

Another claimed: 'The participation medals are a sad cry for "looook at meeeeeeeee"'.

Others defended the Duke of Sussex, pointing out one of the medals was presented to him for his service in Afghanistan. The others marked the late Queen's jubilees.

Harry's medals (left to right) comprised his Afghanistan service medal as well as Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilee medals for his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II

The medals appear to be the same ones he wore to his father King Charles III's coronation in May last year

The absence of the Coronation medal on Harry's chest, reported by Newsweek and The Sun, suggested to royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams that he was deliberately seeking to distance himself from his old life as he makes the US his permanent home.

Harry was not allowed to attend last May's festivities in military dress after stepping back from royal duties; that privilege is reserved for working members of the family.

Commentator Mr Fitzwilliams told Newsweek: 'Those eligible who were involved in the coronation were given a medal. 

'The Sussexes do nothing by chance and this clearly emphasises or is intended to emphasise his distance from the royal family.'

And he added to The Sun: 'The Sussexes are well aware that every single thing they do, everything they wear, everything they say, is all going to be examined.

Four-time Invictus Games gold medalist and five-time Paralympic medalist Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks, 33, (pictured) suffered bilateral hip injuries while deployed in Iraq in 2010, after joining up aged just 17

The Coronation medal features an effigy of King Charles and Queen Camilla on the front (left) and the royal cypher, CIIIR (Charles III Rex), on the rear

'The problem is that if he chooses not to wear the coronation medal, it will certainly be seen as a snub to King Charles.'

Representatives for the Duke of Sussex declined to comment when approached by MailOnline.  

The Coronation medal bears an effigy of King Charles and Queen Camilla looking to the side on its front, and the King's cypher, CIIIR (Charles III Rex), on its rear.

In the video Harry wore his Operational Service medal given to him for his time in the armed forces in Helmand province.

He also wore the three jubilee medals cast to celebrate his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II's Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilees.

He is thought to have worn the medals to show his affinity for the military, which played a key part in his early life as a senior working royal, when he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 and again in 2012. 

Harry also opted not to wear his Coronation medal as he gave a gag-filled monologue at the Stand Up for Heroes event for US veterans last November

Like other recent appearances by the Duke, his presentation of the Soldier of the Year award appeared to be heavily stage managed - with Harry delivering a pre-recorded message from the back door of his Montecito mansion. 

He paid tribute to Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks - who he described as a 'friend' and a 'beacon of inspiration' - as he congratulated her on the prize.

Four-time Invictus Games gold medalist and five-time Paralympic medalist SFC Marks, 33, suffered bilateral hip injuries while deployed in Iraq in 2010, after joining up aged just 17. 

Harry told the ceremony: 'I first met Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks at the Invictus Games in Orlando 2016, where I presented her with not one, but four gold medals that she'd won in swimming. 

'To me, she epitomises the courage, resilience and determination represented across our service community. And this is not just because of her swimming abilities.

'Ellie has courageously overcome every obstacle to cross her path. She has turned her pain into purpose and led through compassion and willpower, showing others that the impossible is indeed possible.

'Despite the injuries she endured during her deployment as a medical assistant in Iraq – along with numerous surgeries and setbacks that would have deterred many – she has persevered tirelessly, becoming the first woman in the Army’s world-class athlete program as well as the first swimmer the program had ever seen.

'She’s also taken her recovery a step further, using her experiences and achievements to inspire and assist others in their mental and physical journey into sport, ensuring those who can’t see a way out or through are introduced to the medicine of sport that saved her too.'