The royal family may not have acknowledged Prince Archie‘s birthday publicly, but the little boy wasn’t completely forgotten!
It turns out the 4-year-old received a surprise gift from two kind shop owners in California while the rest of the world was celebrating King Charles III‘s coronation last month. On Friday, the owners of Mad Dogs & Englishmen Bike Shop in Montecito told People they decided to gift the young prince with a bike on his special day — and they hand-delivered it to the Sussexes’ home!!
Shop owner Jennifer Blevins revealed her British partner and shop co-owner Martin woke up on Archie’s birthday and just had to send him a present. She recalled:
“He went and he got one of our little specialized kids’ bikes — they’re really nice little bikes — and he’s like, ‘This one’s perfect, it’s got training wheels.’”
Once he had the gift in hand, he decided to bring it to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s house himself! Yes, he literally just showed up!!! She continued:
“And so he went and got some birthday balloons, and he got some flowers for Meghan and a birthday card, and he said, ‘Okay, I’m gonna bike over and take it to their house.’”
Wow!
Who knew you could just show up?? Once he arrived at the property, Martin was stopped by security from behind the gate of the home, who wondered if he’d received an invitation from the couple. Laughing, Jennifer relayed:
“He said, ‘I’m just a British business in town that wanted to give Archie a gift.’”
After running an on-site background check on the shop owner, security allowed him to leave the gift, which entailed flowers, a card, balloons, and the bike.
One month later, the bike enthusiasts received a surprise of their own when they got something special in the mail! On Wednesday, they received a formal thank you letter from the royals! She shared:
“A courier came by our little shop on Coast Village Road, and he dropped off that letter.”
She quipped:
“I was making a joke, I said, ‘It better be a thank you letter,’ and it really was! I wasn’t expecting that. I had no idea. It was so thoughtful because, you know, they took the time to write something personal and not just a generic thank you.”
The letter was written by Harrison Colcord at the Office of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and was posted to the shop’s Instagram account. It read:
“On behalf of Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, please accept their sincere thanks for the thoughtful gift you sent to Prince Archie for his fourth birthday. The bike has brought much joy, and is most appreciated by the family. They asked that I convey their gratitude at the lovely surprise.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CtNGXUSvlIw/
A post shared by Mad Dogs & Englishmen (@maddogsbikeshop)
Very sweet!
The letter was especially touching to the couple since it was an “impromptu” and “very sincere” gesture on their part to give Archie the bike. They never expected anything in return, and yet, Harry and Meghan still reached out. Jennifer said:
“Every celebrity in that town has bought bikes from us, and they all come through there. None of them sent a thank you letter.”
Well, buying a bike and receiving one for free is a little different, but we get her point. It was very nice of Harry and Meghan to reach out! Moving forward, the bike shop owners hope little sister Princess Lilibet can also benefit from the gift:
“His little sister Lili can enjoy it too as she grows — it’ll be one that both of them like.”
Love it!
We’re sure Archie’s enjoying the bike! It’s also nice that someone was thinking of him knowing he had to share the day with his grandfather. As we covered, the Duke of Sussex was away in London on May 6 for the coronation, but he rushed home to be there for his son as much as possible. Thoughts on the unexpected gift?! Let us know (below)!
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