The Duke & Duchess Of Sussex: Harry, Meghan & Children

[SilverStormm]

Discussion regarding Harry, Meghan & their children.

Pictures are only allowed in this topic if they do not fit in any other “Pictures Aplenty!” topics.

No fashion talk.

[SilverStormm]

The original Harry & Meghan topic was accidentally merged with the media topic, easiest & quickest solution is to start afresh for both.

[One Tough Cookie]

5 minutes ago, SilverStormm said:

The original Harry & Meghan topic was accidentally merged with the media topic, easiest & quickest solution is to start afresh for both.

Thhanx...I think I accidentally bombed you with e mails. Sorry

[SilverStormm]

Please direct any questions to the Royals mod team via PM.

Article links should only be posted in the media thread.

Thanks.

[Blergh]

OK, I guess we need to make a fresh start!

FWIW, I'm wondering if the Duchess of Sussex's reaction to the Duke's participation in the trial for the previous two days has along the lines of 'You GO, H!' OR ' How could you have been so ill-prepared for such an important trial?! If it weren't attached to your body by the neck, you'd lose your own noggin, Harry!'

Edited June 10 by Blergh

[realityplease]

Yes.  I'm interested not only in her reaction to his preparation, participation in & ultimate testimony at the trial, but also what role Meghan played, if any, regarding Harry's non-attendance on the 1st day of trial in London, due to his taking a flight late Sunday in order to attend Lillibet's birthday party on Sunday. 

Was that a joint decision?  Did she convince him, encourage him, merely go along with, or try to talk him out of flipping off the court order that he be present in court on that lst day - just to be at a 2-yr old's party?  Do either of them have a brain cell working?  Heard of priorities?  Would sure like to know what they were thinking, who (if anyone) was advising them that decision was acceptable - & if they were on the same page about it.  But I guess we'll never know.

Edited June 10 by realityplease

[Salacious Kitty]

No, we'll never know. But that won't stop people from making shit up. That goes both ways. 

[Cocoa Puff]

So, I read the article about the bicycle given to Archie and I'm in shock at that whole situation.

Dude just walks up to their home like hes the mail man and was like here is a gift for Archie 🤯 like the audacity of this man.

People have gotten arrested for less, also we don't know if the bike ever made it onto the property or given to Archie which I hope it was donated.

So because of is foolishness he got free press out of Harry and Meghan.

[ancslove]

But the frustrating and weird and confusing thing about Meghan is that she was by all accounts always super prepared for every job or task, until she decided to accept the (at the time) biggest job of her life.  So maybe she's just "Screw it, wing the whole thing" about everything UK?

But Harry's lawyers should've vetted his written statement much more thoroughly, knowing it would be picked and pulled apart.  Outright contradicting Spare was an own goal that didn't need to happen.  It's not like Spare was written a decade ago.

[realityplease]

Don't know why the bicycle shop owner was so gobsmacked that he got a thank you note from M&H's assistant on their behalf.  The owner gave them a nice gift - a very specialized bicycle & flowers & a note.  A month later, it was acknowledged.   

According to People, the reason the owner was so impressed was that many celebrities in town "bought" bicycles from his shop & he never received a thank you letter from any of them.  Well, if the celebrities bought a bicycle, why would he think they'd be writing him a thank you letter?  A gift is one thing - and a thank you is appropriate & polite.  A sale is something else - no thank you required.  This story isn't really much of anything - just planted PR - whether by Team Sussex or the shop owner, or both in cahoots.  Must have been a VERY SLOW news week at People.

Edited June 10 by realityplease

[Cocoa Puff]

4 minutes ago, realityplease said:

Don't know why the bicycle shop owner was so gobsmacked that he got a thank you note from M&H's assistant on their behalf.  The owner gave them a nice gift - a very specialized bicycle & flowers & a note.  A month later, it was acknowledged.   

According to People, the reason the owner was so impressed was that many celebrities in town "bought" bicycles from his shop & he never received a thank you letter from any of them.  Well, if they bought a bicycle, why would he think they'd be writing him a thank you letter?  A gift is one thing - and a thank you is appropriate & polite.  A sale is something else - no thank you required.  This story isn't really much of anything - just planted PR - whether by Team Sussex or the shop owner, or both in cahoots.  Must have been a VERY SLOW news week at People.

I say both it's the shop owner he wanted the free advertising for his business and it's people magazine who wanted ANYTHING new on Harry and Meghan so they ran with this story that someone brought to someone else's attention from the bike shop owners Instagram account.

Because let's be honest it's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan they aren't the Kardashians they do not need to put out fluff pieces for attention the second they step out of their house they get attention. So IMO these "infantile" type of tactics to drum up press is not needed.

 

[ancslove]

Yeah, that was rather weird!  Not so much the surprise over H&M's thank-you letter for the gift, but the "all the celebrities buy my products, and none of them have ever sent a note!".  But overall, it's a fluffy feel-good story that is pretty inconsequential.  If I got even a form letter thank you from a celebrity, I'd probably crow about it too for a bit!  The shop could've put a pic of the gift on Twitter and publicly wished Archie a Happy Birthday on the day, but they waited until they heard back.

I think this was publicized by the shop instead of Team Sussex, because the details about going right up to their gate with no appointment or invitation and handing over a gift don't strike me as something that Harry would want to give out, even though the story talks about the on-the-spot background check.

One thing I'm curious about is the cropping up of unnamed "sources" about the Sussexes in American media.  What does Harry think of them?  

 

[Oosala]

I’ll answer that. He hates them because they are ‘media’ and he’s planning to file some more lawsuits!

[realityplease]

That's why I thought the Sussex PR might have had a hand in this - because it wasn't publicized when the bike was given - but only after the note sent a month later.  Though also possible it was just picked up after the owner gushed when the note received.

Also, the Sussexes had a recent intruder attempt while they were in NYC for the Vision award - so maybe the Sussex wanted folks to know they have a gate AND someone with the ability to do an on-the-spot background check.  They live in an area where anyone can walk up to their gate - it's not a gated community - and there's absolutely nothing wrong with anyone walking up to that gate. The person ringing just has to be known or have confirmed reason or business in order to be let in beyond the gate. (But perhaps why the Sussex were looking at other properties in the same area that ARE in gated communities.)

As for not being Kardashians, it is very much to M&H's benefit to keep their names in the press in any favorable context possible.  They don't have a specific project that continuously funds them.  They'll very much rely on public support for future endeavors.  And they need to counter bad press from the "near catastrophic" chase.  The recent Newsweek poll only had them with 52% support about it (the highest support mainly from 20-yr olds - with other age groups from teenagers to anyone older than 20's that didn't swing in their favor.)  But then, there's nearly 332 million people in the U.S. and the poll was of only 1,500 people - so how accurate or representative could that poll be?

Edited June 10 by realityplease

[Cocoa Puff]

Maybe that's why bike shop guy posted the thank you note a month after being a creeper and just dropping off the bike at their home.

They got the background check back and then sent out the thank you note. Because even if you are an FBI agent a background check takes longer than a few hours.

 

[Notabug]

On 6/9/2023 at 11:27 PM, ancslove said:

But the frustrating and weird and confusing thing about Meghan is that she was by all accounts always super prepared for every job or task, until she decided to accept the (at the time) biggest job of her life.  So maybe she's just "Screw it, wing the whole thing" about everything UK?

But Harry's lawyers should've vetted his written statement much more thoroughly, knowing it would be picked and pulled apart.  Outright contradicting Spare was an own goal that didn't need to happen.  It's not like Spare was written a decade ago.

Meghan seems to have changed quite a bit from her pre-Duchess days, though.  Recall that she joined the royal family and became a working member without spending even a minute trying to find out what she was getting into.

Whatever reason Harry had for blowing off preparation for his testimony and making the court wait for him to show up at his leisure; it doesn't speak well to his character, nor to his supposed dedication to getting justice for himself and other victims of illegal information gathering by the media.

On 6/10/2023 at 12:20 AM, Cocoa Puff said:

Maybe that's why bike shop guy posted the thank you note a month after being a creeper and just dropping off the bike at their home.

They got the background check back and then sent out the thank you note. Because even if you are an FBI agent a background check takes longer than a few hours.

 

The 'thank you note' was a generic form letter issued by their PR department without signatures, although it did refer to H&M by their titles 3 times.  According to the note, Archie was enjoying the bike, so it doesn't appear they donated it to anyone.  Meghan has been well known for being open to accepting freebies from the public; so I expect the bike, the flowers and the balloons the guy brought ended up in her possiession.

BTW, the guy who dropped off the bike dropped off a brand new bike and was the owner of the bike shop which they knew, since they were able to send the form letter to him there.  I don't think the FBI is going to do a background check on him.  Since Meghan's enthusiasm for free merch is well known, I expect that quite a bit of stuff comes to their compound and the employees have instructions as to how to handle it before letting the Sussex know that there are more goodies from the masses.

Edited June 11 by Notabug

[Cocoa Puff]

1 hour ago, Notabug said:

BTW, the guy who dropped off the bike dropped off a brand new bike and was the owner of the bike shop which they knew, since they were able to send the form letter to him there.  I don't think the FBI is going to do a background check on him.  Since Meghan's enthusiasm for free merch is well known, I expect that quite a bit of stuff comes to their compound and the employees have instructions as to how to handle it before letting the Sussex know that there are more goodies from the masses.

I got the vibe from the article this man was a stranger and didn't have any prior interaction with the couple hell he's likely never met or seen them in person. But he  took it upon him to drop off the bike which no doubt had information about his business which is how they knew what to put on the thank you note.

And of course the note will say Archie enjoyed the bike, it's not going to say we donated the bike because it was weird AF for this to dropped off at our house instead of our business office or something and we aren't keeping this shit in our house or near our kids.

Also I didn't say the FBI did the background check, the security at the gate did according to this nutzo bike shop owner claimed a "24hr background check" was done. 

 

[One Tough Cookie]

13 hours ago, realityplease said:

he never received a thank you letter from any of them.  Well, if the celebrities bought a bicycle, why would he think they'd be writing him a thank you letter

eh--I worked retail one summer and the rule was if someone spent over $200. a written note was supposed ti be sent.

[Cocoa Puff]

1 minute ago, One Tough Cookie said:

eh--I worked retail one summer and the rule was if someone spent over $200. a written note was supposed ti be sent.

That's not uncommon with small business owners. It's a nice gesture and a way to keep a good customer experience and service.

[Notabug]

11 minutes ago, One Tough Cookie said:

eh--I worked retail one summer and the rule was if someone spent over $200. a written note was supposed ti be sent.

Probably depends on the price of the merchandise and whether the customer was likely to return to buy more or refer others.  

[realityplease]

22 minutes ago, One Tough Cookie said:

eh--I worked retail one summer and the rule was if someone spent over $200. a written note was supposed ti be sent.

Right.  But sent from the store to thank the buyer for the $200+ purchase - not as happened here, the buyer to thank the owner for the gift. I've now seen stories that say Harry actually bought the bike but the store owner decided to personally deliver it himself - and it wasn't a gift from the owner (as People reported it to be)  No matter.  It's still much ado about nothing.

Edited June 10 by realityplease

[One Tough Cookie]

6 minutes ago, Notabug said:

Probably depends on the price of the merchandise and whether the customer was likely to return to buy more or refer others.  

This customer had just lost her husband and was determined to replace all her wardrobe and she was happy to spend a lot in our story {it is a bit upscale}.

[ancslove]

22 minutes ago, realityplease said:

Right.  But sent from the store to thank the buyer for the $200+ purchase - not as happened here, the buyer to thank the owner for the gift. I've now seen stories that say Harry actually bought the bike but the store owner decided to personally deliver it himself - and it wasn't a gift from the owner (as People reported it to be)  No matter.  It's still much ado about nothing.

Ohh store to customer thank you note makes sense!  I was really confused about a shop, no matter how expensive and exclusive, mandating thank you notes from customer to store if the customer spent over a certain amount.  

[Shaynaa]

4 hours ago, Cocoa Puff said:

I got the vibe from the article this man was a stranger and didn't have any prior interaction with the couple hell he's likely never met or seen them in person. But he  took it upon him to drop off the bike which no doubt had information about his business which is how they knew what to put on the thank you note.

And of course the note will say Archie enjoyed the bike, it's not going to say we donated the bike because it was weird AF for this to dropped off at our house instead of our business office or something and we aren't keeping this shit in our house or near our kids.

Also I didn't say the FBI did the background check, the security at the gate did according to this nutzo bike shop owner claimed a "24hr background check" was done. 

 

At first I thought the story was sweet but after reading it again and thinking about it, it's actually weird.  Like you said the business owner almost certainly has never met H and M but he just shows up at their house with a gift for their child and flowers for Meghan.  Why did he bring flowers?  They are a lovely gift but when they are being hand delivered to your house by someone you have never met, it is disconcerting at the very least.   We know Harry and Meghan have security problems and someone broke into their house while they were in NYC.  I completely understand why the thank you note was generic and from a staffer.  I find it likely they didn't want something personal, like written by Meghan, as that might give the impression that this was acceptable behavior.  I also find it rather unlikely their PR people leaked the story given how weird it is and it may embolden other people to do similar things.

[Blergh]

FWIW, if a total stranger delivered  something to my house I hadn't asked for, the first thing I'd do is contact them to see if they'd take it back. I don't think I'd be accepting something like that for myself or, especially, any hypothetical kids- much less sending them a thank you note for it.

What's done is done but I hope that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will just have any future unwanted commodities sent back  politely but firmly explaining that it couldn't be accepted- without attempting any kind of thank you note.  It's hard to imagine that the bike store owner would have randomly sacrificed part of his own inventory to any other total stranger  if he hadn't expected something back- like publicity.  But even with that said, I wonder how many folks will now be pestering for free bikes of their own instead of attempting to buy any?

[One Tough Cookie]

3 hours ago, Shaynaa said:

when they are being hand delivered to your house by someone you have never met, it is disconcerting at the very least. 

It's creepy, and could be dangerous.

However {foot tapping impatiently}, still awaiting the video....

[MissLucas]

57 minutes ago, One Tough Cookie said:

However {foot tapping impatiently}, still awaiting the video....

Patience, a director's cut takes time 😉

[Notabug]

18 hours ago, MissLucas said:

Patience, a director's cut takes time 😉

A lot of editing is needed to tell 'their truth', you know.

Quote

FWIW, if a total stranger delivered  something to my house I hadn't asked for, the first thing I'd do is contact them to see if they'd take it back. I don't think I'd be accepting something like that for myself or, especially, any hypothetical kids- much less sending them a thank you note for 

I think most of us would.  However, the Sussex, if they felt the same,  wouldn't have had their security detail do a background check and take the merch.  Seems to me, if they really didn't accept gifts/freebies, they would've had their security people inform the bike shop owner that the Sussex appreciated the gesture but couldn't accept gifts from strangers right then and there.  No exceptions.  That they took it means to me that such things are not unwelcome at their home

Instead, they did a background check on the guy and the staff sent a form letter.  Seems to me that the policy at Haz and Megs place is that anyone who wants to give them free stuff can just drop it off anytime.  Certainly the story the merchant told would do nothing to discourage future handouts.

Meghan has always loved free stuff, Harry said so in his book.  She seemingly used The Tig to score free merchandise, trips, meals and other goodies as so many bloggers do.  Good lord, someone had to explain to the woman why wearing the earrings gifted her by a Saudi prince shortly after the torture and murder of a journalist ordered by the Saudi royal family was not a good idea.  

I think that, based on what the shop keeper said, the Sussex are more than happy to accept 'freebies' from anyone who cares to send them.  They clearly have a procedure in place to handle them.  They're apparently willing to accept the risks inherent in doing so, but that's their choice, too.

Edited June 11 by Notabug

[Enero]

18 hours ago, Shaynaa said:

I also find it rather unlikely their PR people leaked the story given how weird it is and it may embolden other people to do similar things.

The story was leaked by the shop owners themselves. They posted the Thank You note on SM and from there it got picked up by People magazine and others. 

Great point about why the thank you note was not personal. H/M likely didn’t want to give the impression that people showing up to their door to deliver gifts was acceptable.  Though I initially thought the gesture was sweet in hindsight I too find it creepy especially with the shop owner bringing flowers and balloons to the house. If they wanted to give Archie a bike that would’ve been enough.  The flowers and balloons I think is where they crossed the line. 

I see they are now doing a giveaway of a bike to counter the anger they received from some over giving Archie a free bike. SMH. The shop owner also said he’s going to frame the letter and put in their Montecito store and make copies for his other stores to put on display. SMH. They mentioned they are getting tons of business since the letter was published. So despite the negativity surrounding the gift, its been a win for them. 

Edited June 11 by Enero

[Blergh]

For the moment gifting the bike to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex then bragging it up via social media has been a win .However, time will tell how long before  potential customers may wind up being unimpressed by the framed thank  you note if not  start strictly judging the business for the quality of its inventory and service instead of the celebs it has enticed via stunts.

[Notabug]

Quote

 H/M likely didn’t want to give the impression that people showing up to their door to deliver gifts was acceptable.

If they really don't want to give the impression that random freebies delivered to their door is unacceptable, then they shouldn't accept them.  They've got a locked gate with 24/7 security on site.  If they don't want people they don't know giving them, let alone their kids stuff (what a terrible example for Archie!); then the way to demonstrate that is to never accept them.  Send the gift away, never let it pass the front gate.  Or send the bike, flowers and balloons right back with a note saying, 'thanks, but we really cannot accept your generous gesture'.  They sent a note and kept the gifts, that definitely gives the impression that they are very happy to receive any offerings from their fans.

The story as the shop keeper told it indicates to me that Harry and Meghan are fine with random strangers arriving at their doorstep with free stuff.  Because they clearly are.

Edited June 11 by Notabug

[Salacious Kitty]

We also don't know how many gifts are sent to them. I'm sure their address is easily found for those who want it. 

They could be receiving tons of freebies. How many get a hand written note from Meghan? I suspect not many. 

[Notabug]

1 minute ago, Salacious Kitty said:

We also don't know how many gifts are sent to them. I'm sure their address is easily found for those who want it. 

They could be receiving tons of freebies. How many get a hand written note from Meghan? I suspect not many. 

And how many of those freebies are returned to sender?  I suspect not many.    

Considering this story is now out in public, I expect a lot of people are going to be sending stuff for them and their kids.  If Meghan wasn't up to even signing a note for a bike(!) for her kid, I think it's a safe bet that the days of hand written notes from Megs are over.  They probably only existed in Harry's imagination in the first place.

[ancslove]

The subtlety of an unsigned form letter of thanks vs a signed handwritten note is probably lost on most recipients.  All they'll see is the Sussex letterhead.  If you want to discourage people dropping off unrequested gifts at your literal gate, don't send a thank you note at all!  We'll never know if Archie ever laid eyes on that bike (or even if the flowers ever made their way to Meghan), but H&M aren't discouraging other gifters by ranking their thank you notes.

[Oosala]

The owner of the bike shop did not receive a hand-written note from H or M. It was typed by a staff member on behalf of H&M, and nobody signed it. The more I think about this gifter, the more I think he’s nothing more than a grifter and I don’t like him in the least, now that his motives have become painfully obvious.

Crap, my comment is too late, as always. What they said!

Edited June 11 by Oosala

[Notabug]

22 minutes ago, Oosala said:

The owner of the bike shop did not receive a hand-written note from H or M. It was typed by a staff member on behalf of H&M, and nobody signed it. The more I think about this gifter, the more I think he’s nothing more than a grifter and I don’t like him in the least, now that his motives have become painfully obvious.

Crap, my comment is too late, as always. What they said!

Oh, yeah, the shop owner was clearly trying to take advantage of the fact that he was a fellow Brit which might stir H&M to acknowledge the merch and give him an opening for some PR attention.  The fact that People picked up the story and published it as a cute, human interest piece indicates that they either didn't see that the 'gift' was a PR stunt and the 'thank-you note' was a generic form letter that wasn't even signed or they didn't realize what was going on from both sides of the equation.

25 minutes ago, ancslove said:

The subtlety of an unsigned form letter of thanks vs a signed handwritten note is probably lost on most recipients.  s.

It was lost on People Magazine, too.

Edited June 11 by Notabug

[Joan of Argh]

I’m wondering if this is the same guy that left a fancy stroller (one of the expensive types that are used for jogging with your child) outside Tom Cruise and Katey Holmes estate when their daughter Suri was born…

It sat outside the gate and there’s several pics of it if you Google… it had wrapped gifts sitting inside the stroller.

IIRC Tom and Katey never accepted or acknowledged it and it was donated to charity along with other gifts left at their gate house.

the Sussex’s probably should have done the same, no acknowledgment and donate the bike to charity.

[Notabug]

9 minutes ago, Joan of Argh said:

I’m wondering if this is the same guy that left a fancy stroller (one of the expensive types that are used for jogging with your child) outside Tom Cruise and Katey Holmes estate when their daughter Suri was born…

It sat outside the gate and there’s several pics of it if you Google… it had wrapped gifts sitting inside the stroller.

IIRC Tom and Katey never accepted or acknowledged it and it was donated to charity along with other gifts left at their gate house.

the Sussex’s probably should have done the same, no acknowledgment and donate the bike to charity.

Particularly in view of the fact that they are supposedly so concerned about their personal safety.

[Cocoa Puff]

We the public would have NEVER known about the bike if the owner of this IMO snooty and expensive ass bike shop didn't post the thank you note.

They sent the thank you note acknowledging said bike however we the public will never know what happened to said bike or if it made it past the security at the gate.

 

[realityplease]

Another weird "aren't the high-and-mighty so so very very kind" PR-publicized moments.  Apparently on Harry's flight back to the US after giving testimony in London, Harry gave a copy of Spare to the flight attendant.  The attendant posted a picture of himself & Harry & another picture of an airplane seat table showing the book propped up - & a notation on the picture, "Just found this in my luggage that a passenger gave to me." 

So Harry's lugging around a copy (or copies) of his book in his carry-on bag on the off-chance he can gift it.  And Harry knew, somehow, which bag was the flight attendant's & where it was located so he could leave his book in it.  (Frankly, I'd be a little spooked that somebody - even a Prince - opened my luggage - even if to insert a "gift."  It's a standard size hardcover book - hard to just shove it into those ubiquitous Travelpro rollaboards without unzipping.) 

I know.  We're supposed to think it's the flight attendant that posted it - and all the news orgs that publicized this, just happened to see it on the attendant's IG.  (Just like they saw the bike owner's IG)  More likely to me, the Sussex Team, at worst, arranges for these posts, or at best, gets ahold of these IGs & pushes them out to a wider audience in order to keep H&M's names in the public doing "happy" things.  PR earning their keep for another day.  Call me cynical. 

Tons of celebrities do nice notes & things for people on a daily basis.  No articles in People.  No other press about it.  But somehow, we get two of these about H&M publicized in a short period of time.  Hmmmm.

Edited June 11 by realityplease

[Quof]

Quote

Frankly, I'd be a little spooked that somebody - even a Prince - opened my luggage - even if to insert a "gift

Yeah, that would prove interesting on an international flight, when the flight attendant went through Customs using her Global Entry

[Joan of Argh]

28 minutes ago, Cocoa Puff said:

We the public would have NEVER known about the bike if the owner of this IMO snooty and expensive ass bike shop didn't post the thank you note.

They sent the thank you note acknowledging said bike however we the public will never know what happened to said bike or if it made it past the security at the gate.

 

They sent a thank you note acknowledging the bike and they said how Archie was enjoying the gift.

So either they lied about Archie enjoying the bike or they actually kept it and Archie IS enjoying a gift left at their gate by a total stranger.

JMO but I think they should have ignored the gift and done what Tom Cruise did, had a charity van come pick it up from where it was left… making it clear that strangers leaving gifts won’t be acknowledged and the gifts won’t even be brought onto their property or used by their child.

At the time there was pics of a charity van picking up the stroller from where it sat outside their gate.

no need to encourage strangers… there’s too many nutty stalkers to take any chance of encouraging.

[Cocoa Puff]

1 minute ago, Joan of Argh said:

They sent a thank you note acknowledging the bike and they said how Archie was enjoying the gift.

So either they lied about Archie enjoying the bike or they actually kept it and Archie IS enjoying a gift left at their gate by a total stranger.

JMO but I think they should have ignored the gift and done what Tom Cruise did, had a charity van come pick it up from where it was left… making it clear that strangers leaving gifts won’t be acknowledged and the gifts won’t even be brought onto their property or used by their child.

At the time there was pics of a charity van picking up the stroller from where it sat outside their gate.

no need to encourage strangers… there’s too many nutty stalkers to take any chance of encouraging.

IMO If they did nothing then I suspect the owner of the bike shop would become a Harry and Meghan "hater" and talk shit about how dare they not accept the gift.

Yes I know they acknowledged the bike in the note but what else could it have said other than that to not piss off the wack job of a business owner who dropped it off like that. 

 

 

[Salacious Kitty]

1 minute ago, Cocoa Puff said:

IMO If they did nothing then I suspect the owner of the bike shop would become a Harry and Meghan "hater" and talk shit about how dare they not accept the gift.

Yes I know they acknowledged the bike in the note but what else could it have said other than that to not piss off the wack job of a business owner who dropped it off like that. 

 

 

I don't think the bike shop owner just left the bike at the gate. He (or his employee) had to have had a chat with security. Someone had to accept the flowers and balloons. I don't recall if they were mentioned in the note. 

[Joan of Argh]

1 minute ago, Cocoa Puff said:

IMO If they did nothing then I suspect the owner of the bike shop would become a Harry and Meghan "hater" and talk shit about how dare they not accept the gift.

Yes I know they acknowledged the bike in the note but what else could it have said other than that to not piss off the wack job of a business owner who dropped it off like that. 

 

 

It just seems odd to me that they took a month to think about it and that’s the best their security team could come up with…  “Acknowledge the gift AND say how much Archie is enjoying it”  

Sorry but that just sounds like the worst way to handle it and goes against everything I’ve ever read about stalkers, unwanted attention or gifts,,, security people always say not to have any contact with the person and don’t acknowledge their behaviour… have security or the police deal with the individual.

If the guy is indeed a “wack job” as you said the best thing would be not to encourage his odd behaviour…. Crazy people can take the smallest gesture and make a mountain out of a molehill…. Plus other crazies might be tempted to do the same hoping that they’ll receive some type of acknowledgement.

I think it might be time for Harry and Meghan to hire new security because the way their current security handled the NYC situation and this gift for Archie it sounds very unprofessional and kind of scary. 😟 

[Cocoa Puff]

20 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

I don't think the bike shop owner just left the bike at the gate. He (or his employee) had to have had a chat with security. Someone had to accept the flowers and balloons. I don't recall if they were mentioned in the note. 

Of course there was a chat with security, the person had to state their business as to why they were there and whatnot. 

4 minutes ago, Joan of Argh said:

It just seems odd to me that they took a month to think about it and that’s the best their security team could come up with…  “Acknowledge the gift AND say how much Archie is enjoying it”  

Sorry but that just sounds like the worst way to handle it and goes against everything I’ve ever read about stalkers, unwanted attention or gifts,,, security people always say not to have any contact with the person and don’t acknowledge their behaviour… have security or the police deal with the individual.

If the guy is indeed a “wack job” as you said the best thing would be not to encourage his odd behaviour…. Crazy people can take the smallest gesture and make a mountain out of a molehill…. Plus other crazies might be tempted to do the same hoping that they’ll receive some type of acknowledgement.

I think it might be time for Harry and Meghan to hire new security because the way their current security handled the NYC situation and this gift for Archie it sounds very unprofessional and kind of scary. 😟 

I honestly don't believe that note is real. I can make that on MS Word in a few minutes. 

I tried to look through the bike shops Instagram feed to see if they took a picture of said bike and be like look what we gave to Archie. 

But no all we have is a note and this story of another Brit reaching out to another Brit. Hella suspect IMO.  

And now that I've had time to think on it more I believe this WHOLE thing was faked by the bike shop owner for free publicity for his business.

The cheapest thing on their website is and $85 attachment for a bike and the most expensive is a $14,000 "bespoke bike" that they're taking deposits on. 

Even folk with money are not dropping money on things like this not like they used to. 

So IMO ol bike shop owner concocted a little story with a bit of "evidence" and now look where we are talking about bike gate and whatnot.

[Joan of Argh]

11 minutes ago, Cocoa Puff said:

Of course there was a chat with security, the person had to state their business as to why they were there and whatnot. 

I honestly don't believe that note is real. I can make that on MS Word in a few minutes. 

I tried to look through the bike shops Instagram feed to see if they took a picture of said bike and be like look what we gave to Archie. 

But no all we have is a note and this story of another Brit reaching out to another Brit. Hella suspect IMO.  

And now that I've had time to think on it more I believe this WHOLE thing was faked by the bike shop owner for free publicity for his business.

The cheapest thing on their website is and $85 attachment for a bike and the most expensive is a $14,000 "bespoke bike" that they're taking deposits on. 

Even folk with money are not dropping money on things like this not like they used to. 

So IMO ol bike shop owner concocted a little story with a bit of "evidence" and now look where we are talking about bike gate and whatnot.

That actually makes more sense from a security aspect.

The official note version of the situation acknowledging the bike and going on about Archie enjoying it makes their security people sound like bumbling fools!

I can’t imagine any professional security firm advising them to send a thank you and mention how their child is enjoying the gift!

It’s sounds crazy and the opposite of what proper security would advise them to do.

 

[Notabug]

1 minute ago, Joan of Argh said:

That actually makes more sense from a security aspect.

The official note version of the situation acknowledging the bike and going on about Archie enjoying it makes their security people sound like bumbling fools!

I can’t imagine any professional security firm advising them to send a thank you and mention how their child is enjoying the gift!

It’s sounds crazy and the opposite of what proper security would advise them to do.

 

Harry and Meghan have fumbled their way through multiple situations, seemingly either getting bad advice or ignoring good advice from their security detail.  I doubt the letter is a forgery, too easy for People to contact H&M's office to verify or for H&M to issue a statement denying that any message came from their office.

As for the guy being a 'whack job'; I think it's most likely he's entrepreneurial/PR minded.  The guy gave his real name and info about his business to the security staff.  Someone intent on doing something crazy wouldn't have done that.  'Ticking off' a known upstanding member of the community by not sending a thank you note is the lesser of several evils here.  This guy isn't a threat, but now the next guy, who might be, has gotten the green light from the Sussex to drop by with some freebies.

Alas, I do think this story becoming public will encourage people who are indeed 'whack jobs' to give it a go and drop by the Sussex estate.  This is why I think it was a terrible idea for the guards to ever accept the freebies and bring them inside.  Turn it away at the gate is the best answer to keeping people with less than honorable intentions from getting ideas.

 

Quote

The cheapest thing on their website is and $85 attachment for a bike and the most expensive is a $14,000 "bespoke bike" that they're taking deposits on.

Not sure what you're saying here.  The guy gave something of value to a couple of multimillionaires he doesn't know to give to their kid.  An $85 freebie isn't good enough for Archie?  The guy shouldn't have done anything, IMO, but, anything he did is more than the Sussex needed.  We know Archie had a big birthday party with all of mommy and daddy's wealthy friends in attendance, the kid didn't need another gift from anyone, let alone a stranger.

[ancslove]

If that note wasn't genuinely from the Sussexes' office, they'd have slapped the story down by now.  The entire contents of the letter may very well be a polite lie, but that's another matter and not really anyone's business but theirs.  

[Agalea Charis]

On 6/10/2023 at 12:07 AM, Oosala said:

I’ll answer that. He hates them because they are ‘media’ and he’s planning to file some more lawsuits!

Now, now. No one should forget that the media is bad unless they are fueling Harry and Meghan’s narcissism. Or the media they contribute to. 
 

In all seriousness, the fact that a bike for a kid who lives in a household with nannies, cooks, gardeners, and housekeepers, is a story is a little wild. May everyone throw parades because of it. Or dance in the streets the same as when Nelson Mandela was freed.