Prince Harry and Megan Meghan Markle paid a low-profile visit to Pasadena-area burn areas on Friday, Jan. 10, visiting with evacuees, people who lost their homes and first-responders.
The Duke and Dutchess of Sussex, escorted through the city by Mayor Victor Gordo, got a first-hand look at the the destructive path of the Eaton fire, which driven by ferocious winds tore through the region, left six dead, and destroyed or damaged 7,000 structures in Altadena and Pasadena.
“They wanted to offer their assistance, encourage the first-responders, encourage, lift the spirits of the volunteers and just say to people, ‘hang in there,’” Gordo said.
The couple, which were dressed incognito, wearing N-95 masks, with Harry wearing a hat, visited the evacuation center at the Pasadena Convention Center, which has housed many of those, young and old, displaced by the fire, which exploded into existence on Tuesday.
They caravanned to the burn areas, where full neighborhoods had been decimated, and then to the Rose Bowl, where first-responders had set up their emergency response hub.
At one point at the Convention Center, Prince Harry, Meghan – who is from L.A. – and Gordo visited with people who were not able to stand or walk around.
At one point, Gordo said he lost track of Harry. A few moments later, he spotted him sitting next to a bed-ridden elderly man. Gordo pushed a food cart over and Prince Harry asked the man if he wanted a sandwich, maybe a tangerine or some water.
“The gentleman said, ‘what I’d really like is a donut,’” Gordo said as he described the moment. “(Prince Harry) says, ‘there’s no donut here, but I will find one.’ He takes off, and 10 minutes later, he returns with a donut. The gentleman looks up and says, ‘I guess I need my cards and my sugar.’ That gentleman tonight is at the Convention Center and does not know it was Prince Harry who brought him that donut.”
He did tell Prince Harry, “if you ever run for anything, I’ll vote for you,” Gordo described the man as saying, as the youngest son of King Charles III and the late Diana walked away.
The visit by the couple – who live in Montecito, California — itself was hastily organized, Gordo said. But it was full of humanity, including serving food, greeting the first-responders at the emergency operations center and ultimately meeting, and hugging, with people rummaging through the rubble of their homes.
The couple was reported to have opened their home to friends forced to flee the Los Angeles fires.
“Tragedy often brings out the best of humanity,” a grateful Gordo said. “My heart goes out to all of the people who’ve been affected by the devastation brought on by this fire. I witnessed neighbors helping one another selflessly, first responders leaving it on all on the field. That’s the message here. From the very top of our social echelon to the most in need, we all have to bind together in this moment.”