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The owners of a British bike shop, who recently gifted Prince Archie a gender-neutral bike for his fourth birthday, have since revealed they’ve received flak for their kind gesture.
Martin and Jennifer Blevins, who run a shop called Mad Dogs & Englishmen in Montecito, where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle live, decided to give the young prince a $300 (R5 500) pink and turquoise bike for his fourth birthday on 6 May.
According to Jennifer, her husband personally delivered the bike at the gate of the couple’s sprawling estate.
There he was met by their security team who did a background check on him before allowing him to enter to drop off the bike along with a bunch of flowers, balloons and a birthday card.
Jennifer says they decided on a gender-neutral bike made by US company Specialized, so Archie could pass it on to his younger sister Lilibet, who could “grow into it”.
“We are frugal people and and thought it best to give the family one sustainable gift they can re-use,” she told Hello!
But their kindness was not appreciated by all.
She says they’ve been subject to online trolling for gifting a child who is already pampered instead of a less-privileged child.
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Others have also criticised the fact that the Sussexes did not personally sign the thank-you note they sent the couple, which they posted it online.
“Too important to write their own letters,” sneered one commentator, to which a supporter retorted with, “If you’re angry a company sent a bike to a little boy on his birthday as a sweet surprise, you’re the one who has the problem.”
Commenting on the backlash, Jennifer said, “Honestly I don't even know if Harry and Meghan would accept another gift. We’ll wait and see, but they might be like, ‘We're done with you guys’. That would make me sad, but at the same time, I hope they would know that all we’ve ever done is try to be supporters and be positive.”
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Since then the couple, who own a dog named Meghan Markle, have decided to turn the criticism into something good.
They announced on social media that they've launched a GoFundMe charitable campaign named #lovewinsbikesforkids, of which 100 percent of the donations will be used to buy new bikes for underprivileged children.
“Hoping we can take all of this attention and momentum and channel it into doing something impactful and good!” they said.
Sources: dailymail.co.uk, Facebook
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