I just giggled to myself trying to think of some way a certain keen couple would try to compete with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex today now that several wholesome stories have come out about what Harry and Meghan have been doing in LA. Not only did Harry do a Zoom chat to raise awareness (and funds) for WellChild, but it also turns out that Harry and Meghan have been volunteering at Project Angel Food. What do you mean? They aren’t just sitting around, telling people that they’re keen?!
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are wasting no time in starting to volunteer in their new city of residence. ET confirms the couple joined Project Angel Food to deliver meals on Wednesday in West Hollywood, California, to 20 clients living with critical illnesses.
Richard Ayoub, Project Angel Food’s executive director, said he was thrilled with Harry and Meghan’s decision to work with the organization. Ayoub said the couple first volunteered on Easter Sunday, delivering non-perishable meals, and asked to volunteer again on Wednesday.
“They told us they heard our drivers were overloaded and wanted to volunteer to lighten the drivers’ workload,” Ayoub said. The couple adhered to the current social distancing guidelines, wearing masks, gloves, and keeping a distance of six feet or more.
“I am blown away that they chose us. They care about our vulnerable population,” Ayoub shared. “Our clients are most at risk to contract the coronavirus, having compromised immune systems including heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, and most are over the age of 60.”
The generous volunteer work comes at an important time for Project Angel Food — which prepares, and delivers meals to people living with critical illnesses. With the COVID-19 pandemic, 400 new people have signed up to receive meals from the organization. The charity currently serves 1600 meals a day, which will now rise to 2000.
Meghan especially seems like one of her big “issues” is food insecurity and hunger. It was a big deal that her first big project as a royal was a cookbook benefiting a community kitchen for a vulnerable population. And now that she’s back on her home turf, she and Harry are getting out there in the field and volunteering. The Daily Mirror had an interview with an elderly man who met them when they delivered a meal to his apartment. He said, “They had masks on, and they were dressed down with jeans, but very nice jeans… I thought that tall red-headed guy looked pretty familiar, and that girl was very pretty. Then I saw the large black SUVs with the security guards behind them. If they had given me the heads up, I would have worn my tiara.”
Also: the Struggle Daily Mail is trying to make this story into a thing – they claim that Harry and Meghan are distraught at having to cancel their big, fancy, A-list birthday party for Archie. Everything is being canceled and I doubt Harry and Meghan are worried about it.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red, and Backgrid.
My friend does Meals on Wheels in Toronto and it is really impossible work.
I am glad to hear this positive story.
Yes, this is so nice! My first volunteer job many years ago was with Meals on Wheels. In my area, the meals were prepared in a local church and those who had transportation, ate there and we delivered to those who didn’t. I loved every minute of it, talking to the elderly and seeing their faces when we’d arrive with the meals. MoW is such a great service!
This is so nice of them and I think this is part of why Meghan wasn’t fully happy as a royal. She wants to be more hands on and engage in concrete actions. She doesn’t talk about big overarching plans to be keen and how she is coming up with a prize that will change science or whatever. She sees a need and she steps in to fill it. People are hungry, the charity that normally feeds them is overwhelmed, and she sees that is something she and Harry can do – help deliver food.
I also bet that now this organization will see an uptick in donations.
I think you are right, they are both people of action. It must have been so frustrating for them to deal with all the bs of the royal family.
Watching this all play out is so frustrating too. It all was such a waste for the royal family. It seems like everything in the news today is like that, dumb people in charge making dumb decisions. It is so depressing.
I hope that the charities they are highlighting see an uptick in donations. That would be a positive in all this nonsense.
I hope I’m not thread-jacking but Vanity Fair has a cover story on Princess Anne where she’s shading the younger royals about them wanting to do charity work in new ways, telling them to get back to basics, i.e. the way that the BRF has done things for decades. She said something like this (I’m paraphrasing, especially considering how slow this institution is when it comes to adapting to the times): That the BRF knows what works because they’ve tried other approaches that didn’t work (I’m seriously doubting this).
I think it came across as one of the old guard not liking new approaches. There’s no reason why the BRF can’t do both old-fashioned ribbon-cutting and do more targeted projects with a tangible outcome. They certainly can in other European RFs.
@ArtHistorian – always enjoy reading your comments; as you mention below, clearly you’ve been observing various royal families for a long time. Particularly enjoyed your analysis the other day on the historical dysfunction of the BRF.
It’s fascinating for someone of Anne’s position in the family to make these direct statements, and shows without a doubt Meghan and Harry’s problems didn’t just result from W&K, and the courtiers, but that the issues are deep seated with the institution’s senior members. (Though W&K etc. certainly used the family’s prevailing negative attitude to their advantage.)
Have always thought it would be fine if Will & Kate did the typical bread and butter engagements. They’re not cut out for the “initiative” projects, which in their case go nowhere. It’s just not something that works for people with little interest, little creativity, and little initiative themselves. In their positions as FFK and FFQC, ribbon cutting is right up their alley. Don’t need to have the same charisma as H&M. With Will a young royal, son of Diana, cute kids, I believe they’d be popular if they just got out there and were seen more. Will has done himself no favors trying to compete with Harry (who’s position in the succession is so different) on something that’s just not his natural style, and of course no favors for anyone by chosing to work so little in general.
@windyriver
Thanks for the kind words.
Today was a good day for “royal watching” in Denmark. It is Queen Margrethe’s 80th birthday and while all public celebrations were cancelled a month ago, people still found an imaginative way to celebrate her with recording themselves all singing for at the same time (180.000 participated). The video messages from other royals were really nice as well, especially from the young Norwegians and Swedes who all call her Aunt Daisy.
@ArtHistorian – What a thoughtful and lovely way to mark the occasion. And how nice to see examples of such kindness and warmth via video messages. In this difficult time there’s been some impressive examples all over of creativity in crafting celebrations and entertainment.
I know relatively little about the royal families from other countries. I’ve learned a lot from you very knowledgeable commenters here, and it’s probably time to do some further research on my own. Sounds like there’s a lot of interesting people outside the problematic BRF!
@Windyriver, I too look forward to reading @ArtHistorian’s comments…we do learn so much about the other European Royals.
With regard to W&K, I totally agree that had they been smart and not try to compete with H&M, they could’ve been viewed as a valuable part of the Fab Four. Someone on here said a rising tide lifts all boats and H&M would have lifted them up as part of the team. However, trying to compare with H&M was always going to fail because they lack the work ethic, charisma, creative ideas and drive to deliver on big projects. They just don’t have IT.
They could’ve let H&M drive the new initiatives & projects while they met dignitaries and attended tiara events in their role as FFK & FFQC, while at the same time gradually taking over the bread & butter, ribbon cutting events from Anne & the ageing Royals….those numbers would add up at the end of the year to make them look like good ‘hard working’ Royals. A win-win for everybody and the entire UK would have been covered. But no, the green eyed monster and petty vindictiveness took over and with the collusion of the press, the courtiers and Kate’s family along with silence/lack of support from the rest of the Royal family…..this is where we are today.
Cheers Harry and Meghan, the UK doesn’t deserve you….continue to do what you do best in an appreciative environment.
The Sussexsquad has started donating to WELLCHILD, in honour of #Archieday. This volunteering, would have been suppressed or they would have had to seek the approval of the doggy, cantercorous courtiers, whose only mission is to embiggen The Cambridges. However, H&M have gone global. Bye, take your irrelevant royal rota.
Becks1, I disagree with your statement that Meg was not happy working as a royal. I think Meghan recognized how being a royal gave her such enormous amount of opportunities for her philanthropic work and if the BRF and British media had not turned on them, they both would be happily doing what they do best. In their roles. It’s just unfortunate that members of Harry’s family were jealous AF of anything and everything Sussex
I said she wasn’t “fully” happy and I think that was due to your last sentence – Harry’s family was jealous AF about everything they did. They expected her to be more like Kate I guess, or even Sophie – and she didn’t want to be like that. She wasn’t going to spend years talking about how “keen” she was. She wanted to work, and apparently that was a bridge too far for some of the courtiers. I think she “could” have been very happy and made a real difference as a royal, but that triggered some people apparently.
Yep, agreed @BABSORIG. Meghan couldn’t wait to use her new platform for a greater good. Her collaboration with the Hub Community kitchen and cookbook 4-months after their wedding proved her enthusiasm to help others in need.
I’ve been “royal watching” for many years (and not just the Brits) – and I’ve never seen any new member getting to work doing highly effective projects as fast as Meghan did.
I’ve great admiration for CP Mary’s social work but she started up much slower (it took about 4 years to get her foundation set up and fully funded), and it took her a while to forge her own path and figure out her own way of doing things.
I think that Meghan’s passion and ingenuity in coming up with projects that produce very tangible benefits for the people she wants to help is very admirable and inspiring. She knows what she wants to do and how to do it – and, frankly, I think that rubbed a lot of people the wrong way within the institution, both staff and family, especially considering Princess Anne’s recent comments that indicates that the members of the institution have a mindset of “we know best”. I think that Meghan didn’t want or need to be guided by the establishment when it came to do her charitable work – and I bet that really pissed off a lot of people.
She entered an institution with a lot of unspoken rules, rules that she didn’t know about and hampered by being an outsider in several ways – non-royal, American and not white. We can’t know how well she played the game of in-house politics, or even if she did at all – but it looks like she didn’t fare well with a system that seems rather byzantine and stuck in a “we know best and we’ve been here longer than you, so fall in line”. The whisper campaign her has been insidious and a good deal came from the inside.
@Becks1 It just proves that the RF don’t really care about doing good, just the appearance of doing good. Meghan and Harry genuinely want to help and give.
@bren – the fact that Meghan couldn’t wait to use her platform as a royal is exactly my point.
Spot on! This is what I fully expected from them when unleashed from the Royal family and all the BS associated with them.
That is such a good point, Becks1!
I’m sure the plan for Archewell is to be similarly agile.
Agreed. She’s not lofty and grandiose like a certain gruesome twosome in Norfolk. She simply sees what needs to be done and does it to the best of her abilities. The RF prefers to create narratives rather than do actual good.
I knew H&M are doing something worthwhile behind the scenes. That is what feeds their souls. I knew, as soon as this comes out, W&K, will have to do a PR sting to hog the limelight, and lo and behold, who should I see on my screen; W&K talking about mental health, all of about 20mins, with Kate’s hair all blown out. Desperados! All hail to Your Serene Highness, Doria Ragland, who is directing the operations quietly. With her guidance, H&M are in good hands. Bravo; Your Highnesses.
I love the elderly man who would have worn his tiara what a fabulous comment！
That comment made my day!
lol the elderly man made my morning! His tiara and nice jeans comments…😂
Me too!
Yes that just made my day. So precious.
that was very cute! I get it, I answer my door in sweatpants so if I knew a famous person was gonna be knocking I’d put on my fanciest (ie: cleanest) sweats! lol
Are you still answering your door, Original Lala? I talk through an open window now. I had three Jehovah Witnesses at my door this weekend, and they assured me their lord was keeping them clean from disease:(
yes! hilarious and cute
What I like is that he said “that girl is very pretty” when Meghan had a mask on, and probably had her hair tied back. So what he meant was, “her *eyes* are very pretty.” Which is true!!!
It’s nice we don’t get articles from the Sussexes about how they’re “planning” to do something or how “keen” they are or a bunch of word salads with no meanings.
They just do it and we often find out after it’s done.
Yep. I like how everyone finds out after the fact–after they have already gone and done a thing. Not that they’re planning to do something, or keen to learn more about something something random words and nothing ever happens.
Someone recently mentioned that “Meghan likes to show her work” I thought it was a brilliant way to describe her approach to helping.
or – like W&K – directing others to do something or give $ – their motto seems to be do as I say, not as I do. Meghan and Harry are all about action.
Good observation and what a striking difference.
I believe the original article was published by WeHoville.com. In it, the Project Angel Food executive director said he hadn’t intended to make their help public. But, it got out and I’m happy to know they’re supporting an organizational much like Meals on Wheels.
Project Angel Food is a wonderful organization here in LA and has been helping the community for over 30 years. I know the director personally and he is very discreet and would never exploit volunteers, even the Sussexes.
Not to mention that if the elderly guy hadn’t outed them, we *still* might not even have heard about the volunteering.
It’s on Datalounge
Yeah, @ Sofia, I’ve often wondered why the British press constantly use the word “keen” when describing anticipated projects of some other members of the royal family. Like, they’re always “keen” about something. If you want to do something, just do it. Do it like Harry and Meghan. They don’t talk about being “keen” about stuff…they just go out and get sh*t done!!! Stop being “keen”…just do it!
Kudos to H and M! And God bless the dear man who would have loved to put on a tiara for them! Hahaha!
They do use the word “keen” a lot about the Cambs. It has become a bit pointed.
Good people, these two. It will be interesting to see where they end up living-US and Canada?; one or the other?-and what they do with their volunteer time when they finally settle.
Delivering food is very hands’ on and I hope they continue to be involved with work that allows them to interact face-to-face with the beneficiaries of their volunteer efforts.
They can visit Canada, but since they’re not Canadian residents they can’t live there permanently.
Sounds as if Security is isolating with them as a household unit. Makes sense.
This is good of them to help.
I wonder if Doria is with them. Someone had to be watching Archie. Or they have a live in nanny which would make sense as they ramp up charity work. It would have to be someone likely staying full time like you mention with security to reduce contacts.
This, in my opinion, is more helpful than dozens of whatever zoom charity chat calls……I am not surprised Meghan is involved here……….she is a doer!!!
William must be so proud of his brother and sister-in-law!
haha, I am sure!
If only
The whole thing is just sad. My little brother and sister are two of my biggest cheerleaders, and it goes both ways. Get it together William!
Next up: watch William and Kate deliver food by helicopter! while William co-pilots, Kate will land on the roof and come down the chimney!
@MsIam….don’t forget the chutney!
@MsIam —— Thx so much for the laugh!!! This is priceless
“Incandescent” with pride….
They are the Good Samaritans performing acts of kindness. Very touching especially at this very dark times.
Love that they are doers.
I love how stealthy they move. They do the work without need for photos or cameras.
We only know because a client wanted to brag and the org confirmed it was true.
Yep. Not doing it for attention. They really do want to help.
Agree Toot, I Love their stealth mode and think they just wanted to personally help. Also, I love the rabid Royal Rota and their constant spinning. First they make up story of a huge first birthday party for Archie, then write endless stories about how sad the Sussexes are that it can’t take place! Amazing how stupid so many of their tabloid readers are that they believe this BS. In reality, the RR don’t have a clue where they are, what they’re doing, or when they’re doing it.
What are you talking about? Thos has PR stunt written all over it. Who called the photos?
This is great. Meghan has said in the past that she likes to get involved with charities/initiatives before she takes them on so I can see Project Angel Food being a cause they work with in the future.
Also, to add that Meghan definitely is very “aware” of food insecurity and hunger (I’m saying “aware” bc I cant think of a better way to put it.) Didn’t she volunteer at a soup kitchen in high school? And arrange to have the leftover food from the Suits set donated?
This is clearly one of her causes and has been for a long time.
Correct.
She worked at the downtown Mission in Toronto while working on Suits and so I am not surprised she did this either. It’s hands on and provides tangible help instead of just talking about it.
It was the St Felix Centre, just to correct the previous post
Not to nitpick but leftover food from a TV set would not be accepted by a homeless shelter or any facility. There would be no way to verify that it was safe and noncontaminated. It’s against regulation. I worked in several restaurants, and we had to throw away perfectly good food for that reason 🙁
Left over food could be unwrapped biscuits, or cookies, it could be any food wrapped and not opened, maybe meant for an event but not used. Left overs are not only food half eaten.
Left over food could be unopened biscuits, or cookies, it could be any food wrapped and not opened, maybe meant for an event but not used. Left overs are not only food half eaten.
I’m not sure where you live but in the US there are plenty of agencies that “rescue” food from restaurants, caterers, grocery stores, etc. One such agency where I live is called Forgotten Harvest. They are not scraping food from plates and they know what food is acceptable or not. I believe it is the same way in Canada. Google “food rescue” and you will find out more.
I’ve always donated left-over food from conferences I’ve arranged to local homeless shelters, and it has been welcomed.
U r nitpicking and I think St Felix the org that received the donation would know and so would Aaron, Suits creator, who spoke about how Meghan found a way around the restrictions so the food wouldnt be wasted
I agree with those who say they like that H&M will do something first, then announce it once they’ve completed it.
And I can’t with the Daily Mail. They really, really don’t like this couple, so they?
How’s the court case going, I wonder?
From what I’ve seen this week the Sussex’ are not announce anything, it’s charities who are putting the word out . Unlike the Keens who need to take credit.
@Rae, the Fail is definitely nursing a serious grudge with the Sussexes. That baby birthday party headline was ridiculous. You know they pulled that dumb article out of thin air or was looking at the Kardashians insta feed for first birthday parties. That paper looks clueless. Now they’ll be chasing every food delivery truck in LA to see who’s dropping stuff off. Maybe Ben and Ana will start dropping off meals now.
Unlike William who is “thinking” about going back to the air ambulance, at least the Duke and Duchess of Sussex go out there and do the actual work. They don’t just think about it. I love that about them. You can’t just PR your way through life. At some point we have to see the fruits of your so-called “work”.
I saw that about Princess Sofia. That’s great. Kudos to Harry and Meghan too for volunteering. Sophie Wessex also did volunteering with a homeless charity helping them pack goods.
William needs to stay away from air ambulance work. He’d just be in the way and get photo ops.
Wasn’t he also “considering” some training to become a phone counselor with Shout? Cue the stories about how he isn’t allowed to do any of these things because…..
I saw that and was impressed. It’s concrete work that will help people now. All the young royals have time for this and aren’t in high risk groups either. If the low paid workers can do this so can they.
Yes, it’s always “thinking about” doing this or “considering” doing that with him. I’d say he’s lucky that the British press has been kissing his ass, but we know that it’s not out of genuine admiration for him.
Cue the photos of Kate sitting at her empty, laptop-less desk placing three jars of chutney in a shoebox…
Or a photo op with Cambridge kids doing a charitable activity. When all else fails cue the kids.
Word.
And don’t forget the black children.
Lol. Wait for it.
Oh it’s definitely coming. They are too predictable.
I’m giving it about a week from today by the time they see this article and arrange a location for a random pap photo at a food bank in Norfolk n
I don’t even think that is a desk, it looks like a living room console table and they pulled up a chair and phone.
Doubt she has a working desk, she has an army of assistants.
She was sitting at an end table in the sitting room where they met the Obamas. (Wonder if the painting is still there). It’s not an office at all.
It wasn’t. It’s exactly as you said, a sofa table in their living room. Why would you need a desk when you don’t actually work?
I thought that photo op said so much about them. They don’t have an office in KP. Charles and Camilla – photo ops in their home offices. will and kate….nope.
Don’t forget the fake writing with her left hand….LOL never knew she was ambidextrous.
This is amazing, bravo to Harry and Meghan!
This is exactly the kind of thing I expect from them. Well done.
I love this story! This is who they are. “The tall red-headed guy looked pretty familiar.” Haha.
“If they had given me the heads up, I would have worn my tiara.” – this made me smile
I used to work for a Meals on Wheels non-profit and sometimes elected officials would deliver meals. We would call seniors ahead to let them know and they would often joke about getting ready – “oh, I have to brush up my best wig” and things like that.
The Daily Mail is so utterly ridiculous. Like they would care less about an A list birthday party for Archie. That is not what they are about as much as the petty racists would like to think they are.
But Archie will be haunted for life by memories of his lackluster 1st birthday.
The Daily File wants so badly for them to have a Kardashianesque type party for Archie so they can whip their readers in to a frenzy.
Loved the older gentleman’s response. Will make a donation to them in honor of #ArchieDay. Keep doing you Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
I love that they did this. I hope they can continue to do this, but I wonder if they can since it got out. I hope they will be left alone.
Yes, that could be the unfortunate result of that Sun article.
This story made me smile, the older gentleman story is really cute specially the tiara comment! I’m happy they are helping, please stay healthy and safe!
They are good people with good intentions to help. Too bad the royals didn’t want these golden two. Jealousy has ruined anything that was good in that family.
What an awesome couple these two are. Good for them for getting hands-on.
I love that these two do things that actually have impact. I think it’s very telling that that’s exactly what DIDN’T work for the BRF, that Meghan and Harry’s projects generally actually accomplish something meaningful. Not like Mr. and Mrs. show-up-shake-hands and ask a few questions prepared by our staff to make it sound like we’ve been doing our homework.
Great move by the Sussexes. Just realized (I’m hungry, so sue me) they are helping with food insecurity on both sides of the Atlantic. They are really good people. It’s a shame those in the UK didn’t appreciate them when they had them.
This and the other stories with Feeding Britain donation and Harry calling WellChild made me so happy. All these organizations will see an uptick in donations, and they’ve been added to the Archie day fundraiser. It great they are focusing on the causes they care about and don’t need to go through different layers to do it.
I really love this comment b/c I think this is one of H&M’s real strengths: raising awareness of deserving organizations and getting people to donate time and money to them!!! I think H&M can lead this way: do the research, determine which orgs are doing great work in specific areas, and raising their profile so that people get involved with them.
You mean this is what they did on Easter, visit a retirement home. While the others posted pretty pictures of their 200 acres of daffoidils for the plebs to fawn over.
A picture of Kensington Palace, one of their two huge palace homes, and the one they’re not even currently staying in. Who took that picture then? Why did they post it? Why a picture that reminds everyone that they have TWO PALACES complete with TWO sets of manicured palatial gardens? They’re in Norfolk at Amner Hall. But how nice to know that their staff are out there photographing the acres and acres of gardens at Kensington Palace, so that just in case Will and Kate get bored of viewing the acres and acres of manicured gardens at Amner, they can look at pictures of their whole entire SECOND set of palatial gardens at Kensington Palace. That photo was really not a great idea.
They seem to keep trying to suggest that they’re at Kensington Palace in London, and I don’t know if it’s because they’re trying to trick everyone into thinking they’re hunkered down in London just like the RF during WW2, or if they’re trying to trick people into thinking that they’re in London working, or if they’re just really private about their lives in Norfolk and don’t want to post pictures from there (except they posted that video of the kids clapping in the walled garden, so…?) They released those pictures of them “hard at work” in their “offices” at Kensington Palace a week or more after they had moved out to Norfolk, too. Why are they trying to misdirect everyone into believing they’re in London?
Well done Meghan and Harry.
THIS is how you do it! Unlike sophie, they didnt do a photoshoot or share their visit in SM, this was announced by the charity days later. This gave the charity LOTS of exposure and are getting donations from around the world+encouraging others to volunteer.
No amount of PR can get you the respect and admiration that the Sussexs have. Despite all the backstabbing and bullying they continued to rise above it and focus on helping others.
P.s:please consider donating to wellchild
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ArchiesBigOne
Wow. Good for them. I hope that this leaked at a time when they are okay with that. I would imagine if they wanted to keep doing this sort of work it is harder now that the cat is out of the bag.
Perhaps they were trying to get a feel for how it all works so they can transition to providing more macro levels of support through Archewell someday. Even if it is just a one-time thing it’s pretty awesome.
I envy their youth and energy and robust health. I wish I could do something like this with my husband but we are just hanging in there. I can’t believe how much has fallen apart on both of us since we were Meghan and Harry’s ages.
This is so Meghan it seems. As someone said earlier, Meghan is a doer, she wants to be get her hands dirty doing what needs to be.
Do you Meghan and Harry and stay safe doing.
I’ll say it again……The Brits lost is America’s gain! Brits please take note: Americans will not complain about her hair and clothes. Amercians want complain that she opened the door. Americans want complain EVER about someone putting others need first…..please take notes Brits!
Well said, Molly!
They have best hearts of any royal couple I can think of except Princess Diana. They really like to roll up their sleeves and get involved. They really do move with stealth when doing their charity projects. I am very happy to see them doing some charity work during this bleak and sad time. To bring a little cheer to others is what is needed now. Also they donated over $90,000 dollars from proceeds from their wedding to well-child. I don’t know how this works, but several articles were written about it yesterday. God bless Harry, Meghan, and Archie with all the love and good health in this world. The world needs them.