Anti-Trump Protest May Be Held Just Minutes From Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Home
The recent development of the protest is telling of how closely the Sussexes' lives are intertwined with public events.
An anti-Trump administration protest is scheduled to take place near the Montecito estate belonging to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. It has drawn attention yet again to the public spotlight surrounding the Duke and the Duchess’s life in California. The demonstration is set to take place on Saturday, January 10, on Upper State Street at 10 am local time (1:00 pm ET), approximately a 13-minute drive from Sussex’s residence in the exclusive Riven Rock neighborhood, where they live with their two children, Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four.
A local activist organization, Indivisible Santa Barbara, is behind conducting the rally and has staged protests across the region. As per the Express, community liaison Myra Paige outlined the group’s reasoning in statements shared publicly, saying, “What we are seeing taking place in this country at this moment in time is an assault on our democracy, our Constitution, and our human rights, and we absolutely will not sit back, ever.” As per the organizers, the demonstration is intended to protest what they describe as the Trump administration’s “military abduction” of Venezuela’s president and the killing of a woman in Minnesota by an ICE agent.
While the Sussexes have nothing to do with the protests, their proximity to their home is telling of how closely their lives are intertwined with public events. Prince Harry and Markle relocated to California in the Summer of 2020 after stepping back as senior working royals within the British monarchy. After briefly living in Canada and later in Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic, they finally set base in Montecito. The Sussexes have sought privacy while continuing to attract international attention, particularly when political or social movements come into being nearby.
Harry also shares a strained relationship with Donald Trump. This dynamic resurfaced last year through some public appearances. On December 3, the former was invited as a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The prince referenced Trump’s “authoritarian” leadership while joking about “No Kings” protests. Two days later, during a British American Business Council speech, Harry quipped that football must behave in order to “get past ICE.” These remarks again shed light on his willingness to engage with US political discourse.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams also reflected on Harry’s recent remarks and told The Express, “Harry’s been an extra twice in the last week, once in the critically excoriated With Love, Meghan, and the other on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show.” He added, The former was pretty meaningless, although we learnt what foods he doesn’t like. The latter was silly, and it wasn’t wise to mock Donald Trump.” The expert noted that the US President has always had a cordial relationship with the rest of the royal family in the UK, but that goodwill doesn’t extend to the Sussexes. Earlier that year, tensions had resurfaced when court filings revealed that Trump’s administration had identified 1,007 documents linked to Harry’s US visa case. It reignited speculation over the Duke’s long-term residency in the US yet again.
