Sussexes statement about Californian wildfires

[PrettyFlyforaMaiTai]

Meghan and Harry have released a statement in regards to the California wildfire via their Sussex.com website.

It reads:

”In the last few days, wildfires in Southern California have raged through neighborhoods and devastated families, homes, schools, medical care centers, and so much more – affecting tens of thousands from all walks of life.
A state of emergency has been issued.
If you feel compelled to help, here are some resources and ideas:
Support
Organizations such as José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen, which has been a longtime partner of The Archewell Foundation, are serving meals to both first responders and victims of the fire.
CAL FIRE and LA Fire Department Foundation and others are working closely to support firefighters who risk their lives, bravely showing up in these high-risk environments to help save homes, families, and communities in need.
Animal Wellness Foundation is continuing to house and care for animals evacuated by the fires while Compton Cowboys is providing emergency transportation services for horses.
Airbnb and 211LA have partnered to provide free, temporary housing for those who have been displaced.

Baby2baby is providing essential supplies including diapers, clothing, hygiene products, and emergency kits to families in need.
All Power Books and many others are staying open for emergency use, offering supplies and water for pickup while working tirelessly to distribute essentials to those affected.

Open your home
If a friend, loved one, or pet has to evacuate and you are able to offer them a safe haven in your home, please do. And be sure to check in with any disabled or elderly neighbors to see if they need help evacuating.
Give back
Some families and people have been left with nothing. Please consider donating clothing, children’s toys & clothing, and other essentials. The American Red Cross is on the ground helping those in need.”

We've already had this conversation.

Others weren't spouting from "the office of". That was only Harry and Meghan!!!

Well then it isn’t going to help is it?

No, I think it was a reporter but one that was already there reporting on the memorial when Kate walked by, or possibly not on shift but just there to witness the memorial.

However, the accusation that the Palace arranged for a Sky reporter comes directly from the absolute cesspit of a gossip website called Celebitchy - where they have hated Kate from the moment she married William - particularly this odd blogger called Kaiser. It's all the worst kind of made-up vicious nonsense now. It was fun snark years ago before Kaiser got involved.

Did you actually read that article - not one of the moments they describe includes a royal popping up unexpectedly at an event.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1417847/kate-middleton-sarah-everard-vigil-working-visit

Reddit have a thread similar to this but include photos of Meghan eyeing up the camera rather than looking at the person she is meant to be consoling.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DlistedRoyals/comments/1hymh8x/meghananddharryvisittlafireedamagerelief/

Thanks. Some posters certainly give themselves away by spouting this stuff don’t they?

The Palace didn’t say Kate was working, when directly asked they said her visit was private.

Cressida Dick speculated that Kate could be considered to be working when she was interviewed on Radio 4 and asked if visits by people to the bandstand to pay their respects would be compliant with Covid laws as they then stood.

“Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that it was possible under the law to attend the event and that officers had allowed the March 13 vigil to continue for six hours without intervening.

Referring to Kate’s visit, Dame Cressida told the broadcaster: “She’s in the course of her duties, she was working.” She added: “At that point people had a whole series of potential reasonable excuses for being away from home, we didn’t all have them. I’ve picked out one that may apply to her but, let’s be clear, there was a very calm vigil to which she attended where lots and lots of people came.”

There is no suggestion that Cressida Dick was making any public announcement on behalf of the Palace when she said that, given they had already said the visit was private. She said she had picked a reason (i.e. working) that may apply to her.

What was the point in posting that? It doesn’t say anything about a film crew. It also says that Kensington palace disagreed with Cressida Dick and said that the Princess was there in a private capacity

Are you OK MerryMaker?

No she didn’t. She was filmed by a member of the public.

It also wasn't the vigil.

There were about 5 days of people coming and going to lay flowers and pay their respects. The actual vigil was only about an hour, followed by the refusal to disperse, that lasted another hour or two)

And if she was there in a private capacity, she should have been fined

She was also photographed at Uvalde , checking the camera’s position .

Why should she out of hundreds of people that laid flowers during that period be fined?

Seriously 🙄

Oh FGS!!!!🙄

The official vigil was cancelled. Women were arrested and fined for attending

I went as well and wasn't fined. The vigil was different, going and laying flowers was OK in the spirit of the 'rules'.

I don't think the Met police dared do anything, after all it was one of their own that murdered Sarah.

I have no words, so joining in with this emoji 🙄

Cressida Dick also dealt with this at the time. She said that for people who visited peacefully during the day, which was when Kate visited, the police was prepared to assume that each had a lawful reason for attending. This was in accordance with the law.

No matter what the Covid regulations at the time said, there is an overarching right to freedom of expression that is enshrined in the Human Rights Act. That means the police have a legal duty to help make safe protests possible. But that right is not absolute trump card - if the police can show they have good reason to stop an event happening, they are entitled to do so. Later that evening, the police considered that the crowd was becoming unruly. And so, they tried to break up that part of the gathering and remove people whom they believed were contributing to the crowding.

This article on the BBC some of the legal background to the change in policing approach in the course of the day.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56394344

Which was wrong!!

That was much later in the day though, when the police’s attitude to how they should police the event had changed.

It’s foolish to pretend that this didn’t happen.

This was clearly a balls up on behalf of the Met. However, Catherine did not try and attend the vigil. So what is your point?

Indeed.

On Friday, Lord Justice Warby and Mr Justice Holgate released their ruling in favour of arguments made by the four women, who founded Reclaim These Streets (RTS) and planned the vigil, finding that the Met's actions were "not in accordance with the law".
In a summary of the ruling, Lord Justice Warby said the Met had "failed to perform its legal duty to consider whether the claimants might have a reasonable excuse for holding the gathering".

So, in summary, the Met were wrong to change their approach to policing the vigil, and should have maintained the stance they had taken when Kate visited earlier in the day, when they considered no covid rules had been breached. So no, Kate should not have been fined. No one should have been.