Comedian says house Britain’s homeless as royal wedding gift for Megan Markle and Prince Harry
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to get married in at Windsor castle in May, and as a wedding gift, Russell Brand has a very unique idea.
Brand, a British comedian best known for Get Him to the Greek and his political comedy series The Trews, called on the council house the homeless after Windsor and Maidenhead Council leader Simon Dudley asked police to deal with “aggressive begging” in Windsor ahead of the wedding.
Brand slammed Dudley’s position as “some terrifying sort of eugenics, genocide, burn the books, burn the people-type language.”
Brand noted that “of course it’s not Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s fault,” but, he said, “it is an interesting indication that in order to make this wedding spick and span and spotless, the most vulnerable people in society are being exposed to yet more persecution.”
Dudley has since claimed that he was not talking about homelessness but antisocial behavior, according to the BBC.
House the homeless, don’t arrest them
Rather than sending the police to deal with homeless people, then, Brand has proposed that the council donate a building to a charity called Shoc (Slough Homeless Our Concern).
According to Shoc chief executive Steve Headley, Shoc would be an “obvious service” to the “people forced to sleep rough in Windsor,” especially if they are “forcibly removed.”
But the problem Shoc faces is that their lease ends in April, just before the royal wedding between Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on May 19.
“If Shoc closes due to a lack of a building, this would not only overwhelm the other projects, but lives will be at risk,” Headley said.
In an attempt to help Shoc as well as the homeless in Windsor, Brand created a petition calling on the council to donate a building. That petition now has over 70,000 petitions.
BBC News reported that a council spokesperson said they were in contact with Shoc and that discussions about the proposal were underway.
The wedding planning continues
This isn’t the first controversial gift for the soon-to-be newlyweds.
In fact, the first wedding gift that Markle herself received was an apron.
It’s probably inspired by the couple’s infamous “engagement chicken” story. The pair revealed they got engaged while preparing dinner and watching television together. They were cooking a roast chicken on a “cozy night” when Prince Harry finally got up the nerve to ask for her hand.
Still, it had more than a few people raising eyebrows and wondering if the gift wasn’t a little bit sexist. Where’s Prince Harry’s matching apron, after all?
So far, the world can’t get enough of the upcoming royal wedding, and Meghan Markle has reportedly been extremely hands-on throughout the planning process for her May 19 nuptials.
Word on the street is she has already settled on her wedding dress designer and weighed in on the menu for her big day at Windsor Castle.
No word yet on which of her celebrity friends will be joining the bridal party.
