Little Archie was given a bicycle for his fourth birthday. But not from his parents Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan, but from a local bicycle dealer in Montecito, California.
The man named Martin personally brought the children’s bike over on May 6th. The fact that he is a fan of the Royals has long been evident on his Instagram account. For example, one of his dogs is named Meghan Markle.
In an interview with People magazine, his business partner Jennifer Blevins revealed how he came up with the idea: “He picked one of our little kids’ bikes – they’re really nice little bikes – and he said, ‘This one’s perfect, it has training wheels .'” He then bought birthday balloons, flowers for Meghan, and a birthday card.
He brought all of this personally to Harry and Meghan’s property, and security accepted the gift. About a month later, he received a thank you card from the royals. They let him know: “The bike has brought a lot of joy and is highly valued.”
The bicycle dealer also posted the letter on his Instagram page. But the reactions there were not what he had imagined. Some accused him of giving the bike away to “rich people to get exposure for his business”. Others complained that he should have given it to a child who otherwise would not be able to afford it.
Shortly after the People Magazine article broke the story to a wider audience, the man’s inbox exploded. Speaking to the French edition of Gala, Martin said: “Honestly I can’t believe I’m getting so many negative reactions. Hundreds of messages from trolls, robots and humans, death threats via email… and now people are trying to my Destroying business by leaving false negative reviews.”
He now even regrets telling about his gesture: “It’s so sad to see how toxic and hateful people can be. I can’t understand it. I probably should never have shared this letter.”
Sources: “People Magazine”, French “Gala”
