Harry and Meghan statement on Afghanistan

[Mummyoflittledragon]

“The world is exceptionally fragile right now.
As we all feel the many layers of pain due to the situation in Afghanistan, we are left speechless.
As we all watch the growing humanitarian disaster in Haiti, snd the threat of it worsening after last weekend’s earthquake, we are left heartbroken.
And as we all witness the continuing global health crisis, exacerbated by the new variants and constant misinformation, we are left scared.
When any person or community suffers, a piece of each of us does so with them, whether we realise it or not. And though we are not meant to live in a state of suffering, we are as a people, being conditioned to accept it. It’s easy to find ourselves feeling powerless, but we can put our values into action - together.
To start, we encourage you to join us in supporting a number of organisations doing critical work. We also urge those in positions of global influence to rapidly advance the humanitarian dialogues that are expected to take place this fall at multilateral gatherings such as the U.N. General Assembly and the Leader’s Summit.
As an international community, it is the decisions we make now - to alleviate suffering among those we know and those we may never meet - that will prove our humanity.”

• THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF SUFFOLK

H&M are being criticised for making this about them and for not calling out Biden, notably the FLOTUS is report as being a personal friend of H.

What do mumsnetters think?

I really love his work with this charity, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana are places close to my heart.

Me too@Zuluqueen as I lived in the area as a child.

Thing is, if you're going to announce you're giving £1.5m from the money for the memoir then it's not really the whole story.

It's asking for a pat on the back without properly explaining - will the advance from the book etc go through a Foundation and therefore it's actually tax planning to making sure you keep the other 95% free from tax. Or what other tax planning vehicle is as there are plenty that encourage gifts to charity to offset tax.

Not that I want to know, I just don't want to hear the grandiose - I'm giving £1.5m in the first place. It's something wealthy people do and there are altrusistic reasons for doing so. However, (especially in the US) it's sensible tax planning to allocate money for charity.

Selling stories on your family and offset tax against by giving to charity so you receive more yourself so you can also look good giving to charity. A full circile of patting yourself on the back. Not really a need to know is there? Just get on with giving to charity without mentioning it's "blood" money from selling out friends/family and trying to justify it. Half a story.

@Cacacoisfarraige
Ah I see. I cannot possibly understand why Kate would cooperate with Netflix. She’s a very private person.

@Marmaladeagain
Omg. That’s what a foundation is?! You’ve just blown my mind. It’s not really altruistic at all. I did read you only have to hand out 5%, which I found incredibly confusing but I didn’t understand how that mechanism really worked.

@Cacacoisfarraige
Thanks for the information. Well, I hope the H&M foundation is the same rather than Trump’s - I’d forgotten about that scandal!

@ancientgran the other 1.5m go to pay for all the luxuries and expenses for the people attending the polo event - so it is a good way to fill your life with lifestyle events too, not for free but even for your expenses being covered.

[quote Coronateachingagain]@ancientgran the other 1.5m go to pay for all the luxuries and expenses for the people attending the polo event - so it is a good way to fill your life with lifestyle events too, not for free but even for your expenses being covered.[/quote]
Doesn't feel very charitable to me really. So really people want to "donate" say £200 and get £150 of goodies back so not really being as generous as it sounds.

As someone who has been involved in charity events in the past, it is not at all uncommon for them to cost a bomb in and of themselves - you are trying to entice people to spend a lot of money to attend (and they are generally expected to spend more once they are there) so they have to feel they are getting a “luxury” offering in return. I presume Sentable has done the maths and figured it’s worth spending 1.4m to get nearly £2m in donations, as all charities do.

Really??? This is getting daft now 😂

At least we are starting to see them actually doing something.

I suspect that this is the start of their campaign of becoming more visible.

It would be nice if it was all "charity" work and less self promotion.

It looks all right to me.

I don't know what they were supposed to say about Biden, if anything.

@Plumtree391 it is not about Biden, it is all about what they “feel” and think. 🏖 talk about reading the room, but it may work in America

@Serenster

As someone who has been involved in charity events in the past, it is not at all uncommon for them to cost a bomb in and of themselves - you are trying to entice people to spend a lot of money to attend (and they are generally expected to spend more once they are there) so they have to feel they are getting a “luxury” offering in return. I presume Sentable has done the maths and figured it’s worth spending 1.4m to get nearly £2m in donations, as all charities do.

I am not sure they are spending any of THEIR money on this one though - they are lending their name but I would love to confirm they are indeed chipping in with actual cash donations.

Coronateachingagain
“I am not sure they are spending any of THEIR money on this one though - they are lending their name but I would love to confirm they are indeed chipping in with actual cash donations.”

You have said ( much more succinctly) what I have been thinking. Maybe I am being overly analytical but it seems to me that every statement they issue is deliberately vague about what exactly H and M are contributing from their personal wealth .

@Oldbutstillgotit well, some people even get paid to show up to these events. I would like to know in what come they sit on this one - the giving camp or the expensive celebrity camp. We simple don’t know but it would be easy for them to clarify, whether they are getting compensated for showing up in ANY way (not only money).

People generally don't like to talk about what they give, not letting your left hand know what your right is doing and all that.

I still don't get why they would call out Biden, anyway they didn't.

Maybe not quite the same but pre Covid I was involved in setting up a few Ladies Lunches for a charity.
We used to use a celebrity as a “ pull”. The publicity always said they were waiving their fee however their expenses were always very high which definitely reduced any profit.

I'm sure there's information out there on what Sentebale spends its money. Harry's been involved in it for quite a while now, long before he met Meghan.

@Oldbutstillgotit hmm? that is not the point. They are acting like their are doing and giving away a lot but people struggle to see any of it 🤷‍♀️🏖 🏝 short lived but hey each to their own!

@AnnunciataZ

I'm sure there's information out there on what Sentebale spends its money. Harry's been involved in it for quite a while now, long before he met Meghan.

Well not sure you will find much detail of what Harry exactly will get for the next event - even if it is not money but a mention here and a mention there. This is how it all works, as they are still building a path to “an era of visibility”

@Coronateachingagain Tbh I'm not really interested in what he's getting, if anything, as long as the charity can carry out the work they do for children and young people who've been affected by HIV/AIDS.

@ Coronateachingagain

Possibly not the same . Wine has been consumed ( long day with DGD ). I was trying to make the point that celebs we used claimed lots of expenses so it appeared they were being magnanimous but weren’t. Maybe Harry is doing the same.?
Bed time.

Not that I want to know, I just don't want to hear the grandiose - I'm giving £1.5m in the first place.

If they didn't announce it, they would be accused of hogging all the profits. H&M are damned whatever they do because loads of people love being angry with them.🤷‍♀️

@AnnunciataZ I am only interested in calling things by its name. So if he is getting a lot but he is saying he is giving, then I would have an issue with it. Not fair to all the people they claim to be doing “all their work” for - the Afghan people being the latest quoted. Actually I do care if he is getting too much for it because that money could be used for much better causes (rather than paying for their multi million lifestyle). As you say, the charity could carry out much more work. Of course it is all muddled waters so who knows (now)