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?

@Serenster
Thank you for that really useful summary. These events are being run along the lines of a business. Well, a business would be considered doing extremely well with a 25% net profit. But this isn’t a business, it’s a charity.

Unless I did some digging, which I’m not that interested in doing, I would wonder if the 25% profit includes donations to offset the environmental impact or if this were waived seeing as it is in the name of charity.

Ok it keeps people in employment so I suppose there is that. But it does leave a bad taste in my mouth and doesn’t seem very charitable. Because this just seems like the elite version of Glastonbury. The difference being Glastonbury festival being it is a non profit company rather than a charity, isn’t it?

@BeckyWithTheAverageHair
Perhaps check first maybe? This is the second time you’ve been insulting in your presumptions.

www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9910267/JAN-MOIR-private-pair-Harry-Meghan-make-public-pain-mystery.html

Ok I was wrong, Jan Moir not Sarah Vine 😆

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9910081/EDEN-CONFIDENTIAL-Prince-Harrys-Invictus-charity-booms-thanks-William-Kates-generosity.html

so talking of charity - accounts show (no announcement made years in advance) Prince William gave to H's invictus:

"the huge transfer of £560,984 meant that Invictus could boast an income of £1.77 million last year in newly published accounts. That’s a huge jump on 2019 when its income was £1.06 million."

Not PW personally - via the charity etc - details in link for anyone interested.

@AnnunciataZ

Ok I was wrong, Jan Moir not Sarah Vine 😆

Quite linked your amusing linked article. Moir talks about Harry with the derision he deserves.

Sorry not your liked article, an article you commented on.

[quote Velcropaws]Serenster very interesting and informative post.

Before anyone is put off donating to the charity sector, most charities in the UK are much smaller in scale and run on a shoe string. The financial realities of running a small charity are indeed crushing. A fight every day - and time taken away from end-users - to fill in countless bids for corporate donations which always come with huge strings attached. And a good 70% rejected so time wasted.

The uncertainty about where the funding situation will be in five years time leaves small charities unable to plan in the way we would like to. Lots of energy and stress and constantly teetering on the brink. It's a precarious existence. You have to fight for, and justify, ever penny. Which is all correct and good and exactly as it should be of course and incredibly challenging at the same time!

As an aside, Camilla Batmanghelidjih always gets a bad wrap on Mumsnet, but to be accurate, it was a false accusation of sexual abuse that endangered the charity, not mismanagement:

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/12/mismanagement-claims-kids-company-founder-thrown-out-camila-batmanghelidjh

Also as another aside, I know of a small charity in the East Midlands (community kitchen) who received a cash donation from Meghan Markle without fanfare. It was a small donation from her perspective probably, but absolutely massive to them. It got in to the local papers but it was the recipients who publicised it:

www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/meghan-markle-donates-10000-hyson-5225946[/quote]
Reading the report, the donation to the Nottinghamshire charity actually came from the Royal Foundation. Meghan may have been involved somehow - it was driven by proceeds from the Grenfell cookbook - but the actual charity vehicle was the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s royal foundation.

Reading the report, the donation to the Nottinghamshire charity actually came from the Royal Foundation. Meghan may have been involved somehow - it was driven by proceeds from the Grenfell cookbook - but the actual charity vehicle was the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s royal foundation.

Oh, I was informed that MM had signed the cheque.

It's a bit of an odd one. The charity website itself confirms it came from the Royal Foundation but it sounds as though the foundation is providing grants from legacy projects started by Meghan prior to december 2019, before the foundation was split. So it would be unlikely MM signed the cheque as I doubt she would be a signatory of a foundation MM & Harry split from in 2019.

where did you read that MM signed the cheque, if you don't mind me asking?

I’d also be interested to know that. This is very confusing.

Gosh that was another scathing article about H&M. When will this all end?

I’m intrigued because the Dukes and Duchesses would surely be unlikely to be the signatories on cheques from their Royal Foundations? In most organisations that’s normally delegated to someone in the finance function (in part because having someone separate to sign off on things is a fundamental check and balance on someone in a position of power abusing their role - in any organisation).

And, unless it was one of those big cheques for a photo op, they seem strangely behind the times in sending out cheques! I suppose the Palaces move very slowly…

@Velcropaws "Also as another aside, I know of a small charity in the East Midlands (community kitchen) who received a cash donation from Meghan Markle without fanfare. It was a small donation from her perspective probably, but absolutely massive to them."

This comment raised a query that has been at the back of my mind for ages. When I originally read about this donation to the Salaam Shalom Kitchen, it said that the donation was comprised of revenue raised for The Royal Foundation from the sale of Together: Our Community Cookbook, which I presume is the one to which the Duchess wrote the foreword/introduction or whatever it was. If this was the case, why didn't the money go to the Hubb Kitchen instead of the Royal Foundation? Since the Hubb Kitchen provided all the recipes, surely they would be considered to be the owners of the book.

I don't live in the UK, so I may have completely misunderstood the situation.

God how pathetic the length people go to disect everything they do and say. Do you do this with other charities? Or other statements made by other famous people....

How sad! Meanwhile they are living their lives and your spending your time and energy on them lol

@Dreamstate

God how pathetic the length people go to disect everything they do and say. Do you do this with other charities? Or other statements made by other famous people....

How sad! Meanwhile they are living their lives and your spending your time and energy on them lol

We are talking about charities and foundations. Somewhat different, especially as the latter seems to be an easy way of accumulating wealth in an obscene manner.

One of those ‘can do no wrong’ confused posters @Marmaladeagain was talking about.

I'm wondering if Harry relocated his polo ponies (and grooms?) To California when they moved.

For years, a wealthy Canadian called Galen Weston would foot the bill for PC,PW&PH to play polo. They would pay nothing. GW died last year,I'm sure some other wealthy buisness owner has stepped in since.

Moir talks about Harry with the derision he deserves.

"Determined to matter more than they do..." is right I think.

Do you do this with other charities?

It's definitely happened with regard to other charities (and businesses) on MN.

The proportion is spending on frontline activities compared to staff/admin costs is quite a common theme, as is whether the organisation is really doing what it says it does

It's meaningless dribble- I agree. I don't see why they are obligated to criticise Biden though, they don't have to. They would probably have been criticised if they had anyway. Plus it makes it political when they are meant to be neutral.

What I don't understand is why they feel the need to make a statement at all! Why do they do this every-time something happens? They are very self important.

@burritofan

How about everyone should be making statements on this? FFS. Of course they should use their enormous fame to speak out. Anything else would be irresponsible.

But what's it actually going to achieve? Is them telling us we should join together to help really make people do that who weren't going to help anyway? What use is a famous persons view of these things?

'don't see why they are obligated to criticise Biden though, they don't have to. They would probably have been criticised if they had anyway. Plus it makes it political when they are meant to be neutral.'

Oh come off it. Harry managed a very thinly disguised 'we support Biden' speech pre election without actually saying Biden. I'm sure they could have been empowered to use their voices and say 'the whole thing has been shambolic our leaders must do better' or similar. He is very careful not to offend only when it may affect his US market and fans.

@GetInThereLewis

For years, a wealthy Canadian called Galen Weston would foot the bill for PC,PW&PH to play polo. They would pay nothing. GW died last year,I'm sure some other wealthy buisness owner has stepped in since.

I am presuming therefore the Sentebale circa 25% 500k profit didn’t include the cost for Harry’s ponies. Jeepers.

@JaniieJones
Thanks for reminding us that Harry spoke of being pro Biden pre election. He’s also friends with Jill Biden.