Prince Harry sells hunting rifles worth $62,200 to appease animal-loving wife Meghan Markle
Prince Harry sold a pair of handmade hunting rifles reportedly in an attempt to please his wife Meghan Markle. A hunter purchased a pair of Purdey firearms, which were estimated to cost £50,000 ($62200), in a private deal around five months ago. This took place before the couple stepped down as senior members of the royal family and left the UK for Canada. The couple is now settled in Los Angeles.
The anonymous buyer's friend said, "He bought them because he wanted them, not because they belonged to Harry, but he was quite chuffed when he found out. They are beautiful examples and he's very pleased with them but he's not the sort of person who wants to boast about the royal connection," The Sun reported.
It was just last week that conservationist Dr Jane Goodall spoke to Radio Times about Harry and his brother Prince William. She said, "They hunt and shoot. But I think Harry will stop because Meghan doesn't like hunting."
Back in 2018, during the couple's first Christmas, speculation and rumors suggested that Harry would refrain from participating in the traditional Boxing Day hunt. However, this information was dismissed by palace officials as "completely untrue". Harry, 35, however, was absent from the shoots at Balmoral and Sandringham.
Harry is a patron of Rhino Conservation Botswana and president of African Parks, a South African group. He is known to have shot dead a water buffalo in Argentina in 2004 and he and his brother William hunted wild boar in Spain in 2014. In 2017, while engaged to Meghan, Harry and his friends killed 15 wild boar in Germany, according to The Sun.
We had earlier reported that Prince Harry had reportedly spoken to his friends and told them that he misses the army and "cannot believe" how much his life has turned upside down since quitting the royal family. Harry was stripped of his military titles when he and wife Meghan stepped down as senior members of the royal family on March 31.
As a result, he had to give up his roles as Captain-General of the Royal Marines and Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington. An insider shared, "Harry has told friends he is really missing the Army as well his military appointments," the Daily Telegraph reported.
The couple has settled down in Los Angeles with their baby son Archie and are reportedly looking at purchasing a massive six-bedroom home next to LA's exclusive neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. They also reportedly want Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, to move in with them.
A source revealed, "Once quarantine and lockdown are over, Harry and Meghan will be moving into their new pad and they want Doria to be included in these plans. She is hugely independent though and doesn't want to be in their space. She will have her own granny annex."
The source also shared that Meghan would like to keep her mother close especially since she now "doesn't trust many people" outside her immediate circle of family and friends. The source revealed that Harry has grown very distant from his own family ever since leaving the UK.
He has formed a close bond with Meghan's mother Doria and is happy to have her living in the same vicinity. "Harry has also grown close to her so, believe it or not, he was receptive to the idea of living with his mother-in-law," the source revealed.
In January, Harry and Meghan had announced their decision to step down as senior members of the royal family. They had also said they were planning on becoming financially independent and wanted to divide their time between North America and England.