Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s neighbourhood in Montecito, California was visited by Donald Trump’s supporters over the weekend, which sparked outrage among locals who gave them the “middle finger”, reports have claimed.
The processions, known as “Trump Trains” in the US, saw several of the new US President-elect’s supporters celebrate the electoral win by carrying banners and flags.
The group has a page on Facebook where they post and list their events or “car parades” supporting the new President around America.
According to the Mail, many of the cars had flags in the back, others had painted the sides with the Stars and Stripes, while their drivers wore MAGA (Make America Great Again – one of Mr Trump’s mottos) caps.
Montecito, the majority of whom are known to support the Democratic Party, were furious at the parade with some of them pictured giving the Trump supporters the middle finger as they passed through.
One parent reportedly wrote on social media: “Our daughter and her friend participated in the Trump Train in Montecito, Cal today. Naturally, the liberals were in rare form.”
Montecito is home to some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Oprah Winfrey, who, apart from being close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, has also been openly supporting Kamala Harris.
Other neighbours of Harry and Meghan include Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ariana Grande, Rob Lowe, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, Drew Barrymore, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson. Ms Grande and Ms Perry have previously publicly endorsed Kamara Harris.
While the Sussexes urged people to go and vote in the US election, they did not publicly endorse a candidate, however, their relationship with the Trumps is known to be frosty.
Harry and Meghan moved to the US in 2020 after they stepped down as senior working royals.
They settled in Montecito, where they still reside with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
The news comes during a challenging time for the duke after his visa arrangements came back into the spotlight after a think tank requested his immigration records be made public due to his revelations about past drug use in his memoir Spare. Under US law, while not constituting an automatic ban, drug use can be grounds to reject a visa application.
Washington-DC-based think tank The Heritage Foundation had filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security demanding the publication of Harry’s visa documents following his explosive claims, saying that the request was of “immense public interest”.
However, US judge Carl Nichols judge ruled that the Duke of Sussex’s US visa application should remain private as the “public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of” his immigration records” with the think tank wanting to appeal the ruling.
