Sussexes’ visit raises ire of affected homeowners

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s quasi ‘royal tour’ of fire devastated areas in California has been slammed by residents.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited victims of the Eaton Fire in LA. Picture: FOX 11 Los Angeles

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s quasi “royal tour” of fire devastated areas in California has been slammed by residents.

While the royal couple were being escorted through destroyed houses in Pasadena by mayor Victor Gordo, heartbroken homeowners in the affected areas around Eaton, where more than 1000 homes have been lost, were still prevented from returning to assess the damage.

Mr Gordo was forced to defend Friday’s arrival of Harry and Meghan in the affected area 150km from their home in Montecito, insisting: “They didn’t come out here for publicity; they came out here to work.”

He said the couple had worn masks and “anonymously helped” earlier in the day serving food from a kitchen run by a company linked to their Archewell foundation.

Mr Gordo then took them to the fire-affected area. “They wanted to go visit the first responders and personally thank them for their efforts to help our families and our neighbours.”

Harry even sourced a doughnut for one of the fire victims, the mayor revealed.

Photographers accompanying the royals and the mayor during the 45-minute tour captured images of Harry walking through the ashes of a home at 2858 Highview Ave and along Altadena Drive in Altadena.

It is unclear what the purpose of the visit was, with local comments on social media deriding Mr Gordo for being a tour guide and not concentrating his efforts on fighting the fires, which are still burning out of control. Locals are furious about the lack of preparation for the fires.

One commentator said: “Harry and Meghan left their intact mansion and house guests to personally tour devastation in Altadena. They had city officials escort them to strangers’ loss and spent 45 minutes rubbernecking while the property owners weren’t allowed to get to their ruins to sift through or even look.”

While social media claimed the visit was a public relations stunt to boost viewership of Meghan’s new cooking show, others welcomed news that the couple had opened their home for family and friends affected by the fires.

Media in the area have focused on other local initiatives such as a vet opening up her practice to take in pets, and a vintage clothing store owner creating a “boutique” for fire victims to choose and select free clothes. Designer Melynda Choothesa said: “People deserve to have dignity; they’ve already lost everything. We don’t want to give them just any old thing.”