Prince Harry & Duchess Meghan's quirky wedding gifts include a bull, koalas, plus charity donations
Maria Puente
USA TODAY
Published 10:50 p.m. UTC May 22, 2018
Your Royal Highnesses, meet Harry and Meghan, two baby koalas — still in their mothers’ pouches — named for you at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, a gift from the people of New South Wales, Australia, in honor of your wedding.
In keeping with Prince Harry and the former Meghan Markle’s request for donations to their charities in lieu of wedding gifts, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said her Aussie state also will be making a cash donation toward preserving koala habitats.
It’s one of the more unusual gifts the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex have received or been promised in honor of their spectacular nuptials Saturday at Windsor Castle.
For instance: There’s a bull in an Indian sanctuary named Merry, (a mashup of Harry and Meghan) who owes his new easy life to the royal couple.
But what could be more perfect than a couple of koala cuties — far away Down Under — that you’ll never have to worry about feeding and cleaning up after?
Taronga Zoo, the harbor-side menagerie of Australia’s wonderfully quirky wildlife, already has a relationship with the royals: The Prince George Bilby Exhibit, named for Prince William and Duchess Kate’s first baby and royal heir, Prince George of Cambridge.
George was just about 10 months old when he visited his namesake bilby during a 2014 Down Under tour with his parents, getting up close and personal with the critter that looks sort of like a rat, only bigger and cuter. It was the world’s second official look at (human) baby George, so the reaction was a global outpouring of “awwws” — along with new interest in endangered Australian marsupials.
Similar cooing will likely result from some of the other unusual gifts the couple will receive. But aside from that, the “Merry” royal wedding is going to be a huge boon for good causes.
Royal couples don’t really need dish sets but they can steer big money to charities. The couple’s seven chosen charities advocate for causes such as sport for social change, women’s empowerment, conservation and the environment, homelessness, HIV and the armed forces.
So far, Kensington Palace has not issued any details on how much money has been raised via the wedding. But here are some of the other royal wedding gifts we know about:
Prince Seeiso and Princess Mabereng of Lesotho
He’s Harry’s close friend and charity partner in Sentebale, their African children’s charity, and he’s believed to be the only foreign royal invited to the wedding. He and his wife gave the couple Wonderbags.
These are portable, non-electric slow-cookers, invented in Africa as a way to help the continent’s women and children deal with chronic fuel shortages and free up more time for them to get an education or a job. It’s the perfect gift for a couple committed to Africa and to women’s empowerment.
The publicist for another Africa-based charity, Africa’s Gift, tweeted a picture of her client holding Seeiso’s gift.
PETA India:
The animal welfare group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in India blogged that it rescued an Indian bull found weak and injured from a lifetime of pulling heavy carts and adopted him in honor of Harry and Meghan. “He’ll spend the rest of his days relaxing in peace at a sanctuary in Maharashtra,” according to the group’s blog.
On Saturday, PETA India tweeted a picture of Merry: “Prince Harry & Meghan’s Royal Wedding Gift From PETA India Is a Bull!”
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia:
The Aussies have set aside two Akubras — classic Down Under bush hats — for Harry and Meghan, who are due to visit Australia in October for the Sydney Invictus Games. They will need them: October is the start of summer down there.
The prime minister also said in his Instagram post that Australia will make a donation to Invictus in honor of the wedding.
“Congratulations Harry & Meghan on your wedding day. Our young lifesavers are modelling the two Akubras we have waiting for you when you come down under later this year for the Invictus Games. And Australia will also be making a donation to Invictus in honour of your wedding! With our very best wishes for a long and happy life together, Malcolm and Lucy.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada:
His office announced and tweeted that Canada will donate $50,000 to Jumpstart, a Canadian charity dedicated to making sports more accessible to disadvantaged kids.
“Since 2005, Jumpstart has helped more than 1.6 million children of all abilities get out on the field and be part of a team,” Trudeau said in a statement. “We wish Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Sussex a lifetime of happiness, and all the best as they start this new chapter together.”
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump:
White House spokesperson Lindsay Walters said last week the Trumps will make a contribution to one of the seven charities on the royal couple’s list but did not specify which one. Neither Trump tweeted about the wedding.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand:
She said at a press conference last week that New Zealand will donate $5,000 to the New Zealand charity Pillars, which supports the children and families of prisoners. She also urged Kiwis thinking of gifts for the royal couple to make a donation to charity.
“This gift reflects the couple’s wish that as many people as possible benefit from the generosity of spirit that has been expressed in response to their engagement and wedding. I wish them all the best for their very special day on Saturday,” Ardern said.
President Emmanuel Macron of France:
He is giving the royal couple a custom piece from S.T. Dupont, the French luxury brand of lighters, pens, leather goods, cufflinks and the like. The gift is from Dupont’s James Bond 007 collection and includes a travel case with a golden lighter, cigar cutter, pens and cuff links all arranged in the shape of a gun, each with the 007 logo, according to a press release last week in London reported by British media.
Harry is a former smoker. But the gift is oddly in keeping with one unforgettable image from the wedding, when Harry and Meghan, dressed in a Stella McCartney gown and wearing the late Princess Diana’s huge aquamarine ring, climbed into a vintage blue Jaguar to drive to their post-wedding party.
Although it had been modified to be an electric car, it looked like something out of a Bond movie. Well, except for the left-hand drive.
Let’s block ads! (Why?)