Harry and Meghan's Neighbor Tried to Welcome Them With a Gift. It Didn't Go Well.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved to the quiet town of Montecito, California, back in 2020.
When they did, their neighbor Frank E. McGinity dropped by to give them some historical films about the area.
But McGinity was turned away at the gate because the couple was "not interested."
Montecito: Thought to mean "Little Mountain" (or "an archaic use of the Spanish word meaning woodland or countryside," according to the Montecito Journal), this quiet unincorporated town was home to the Chumash people for thousands of years.
It's since been home to 18th-century Spanish invaders, highway bandits, and Italian immigrants, all while becoming a quintessential quaint American town. The kind where families take a stroll through Lotusland, or the Santa Barbara Zoo, before grabbing a tasty treat at Rori's Artisanal Creamery; where people greet each other on the street with a friendly wave; and where neighbors are always welcome to drop by with a warm hello.
Or at least it used to be. But as The Independent reports, that's no longer true due to one noteworthy pair of residents: the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Now, calling this incident "the worst thing to ever happen in Montecito" might seem hyperbolic when you consider the nightmarish months in 2017 and 2018 when Mother Nature seemed hellbent on wiping the town off the map like an Atlantis, but wait until you hear about the harrowing trials and tribulations of one Mr. Frank McGinity.
The 88-year-old U.S. Navy veteran is an explorer and history enthusiast (and CPA) who has made several films about the history of the Montecito area. He thought those might make a lovely gift for the new neighbors who had just moved in next to him.
"I have a big house next to Harry and Meghan's property, and I live in the guest house while renting the main house out on Airbnb," he told The Montecito Journal of his proximity to the famous couple. Feeling the impulse to be neighborly, "I went up to their gate with the films on a CD, but they weren't interested."
"The gate guy turned me away and wouldn't take the film," McGinity added, "...just saying 'they're not interested.'"
Your heart just breaks to hear it. Here's yet another story of Harry and Meghan's paranoia run wild. They seem only to view things through this narrow, twisted viewpoint that every single person that ever tries to interact with them is just doing it to gain something for themselves—to take advantage of it, to have a story to tell, and later, a book to sell. And that totally unfounded paranoia made them turn away McGinity and his historical films.
You can read much more about Frank McGinity's attempt to give a gift to Harry and Meghan in his new book Get Off Your Street: A Personal Travelogue, available in paperback.
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