Disney role ‘hustle’ slammed as tacky and embarrassing
Meghan and Harry plotted escape in ‘Kazakh-deal billionaire’s mansion’
THE £11million Canadian waterfront property in which Harry and Meghan plotted their breakaway from the royals is owned by a controversial billionaire, it has been claimed.
Frank Giustra has been hosting Harry and Meghan at the mansion he owns on Vancouver Island, say US reports.
Katherine McPhee, the wife of Giustra’s friend David Foster, was a school friend of the Duchess of Sussex.
Giustra, 62, flew to Kazakhstan in 2005 with former president Bill Clinton to meet the former Soviet republic’s leader.
Days later, Giustra obtained shares in three of the country’s state-run uranium mines, valued at more than £2.3billion.
HIDEAWAY Mansion on Vancouver Island
Months after the Kazakhstan deal, Giustra reportedly gave a £24million donation to the Clinton Foundation and has since pledged another £76.5million.
Giustra and Clinton deny the former US President helped cement the deal.
Harry and Iger talk as Meghan hugs Beyonce
PRINCE Harry has been criticised as “tacky” after footage emerged of him appearing to tout wife Meghan to the head of Disney for voiceover work.
A fan recorded the Duke speaking to Walt Disney Company chairman and CEO Bob Iger, 68, at the Lion King premiere in London last July.
Months later, the Duchess was employed by the Hollywood giant.
In the footage, Harry is seen pointing to Meghan as she chatted to Beyonce and asking Iger in a hushed voice: “You know she does voiceovers?”
Iger responds: “Oh, really?” before Harry says: “Did you know that?” Iger replies: “I did not know that.” Harry tells him: “You seem surprised. She’s really interested.”
The pair speak further before Iger says: “Sure, we’d love to try, that’s a great idea.” At one point, Iger is seen telling the couple: “Just email me.”
Meghan later signed a voiceover deal with Disney in exchange for a donation to
Elephants Without Borders, a charity that helps track and protect animals from poachers.
She recorded her part before she and Harry left for their six-week Christmas break in Canada.
The star-studded premiere last summer raised funds for Harry’s conservation projects in Africa, particularly raising awareness of the dwindling number of lions in Kenya.
Also at the bash were singer Elton John and his husband David Furnish – whose French Riviera villa Harry and Meghan stayed at later in the summer.
The Disney arrangement offers a hint of the couple’s future life, using their celebrity status to benefit their chosen causes as well as themselves.
Sources say Meghan is keen to try directing too, as she wants to keep close ties with the film industry but does not want to go back on screen yet.
Author Sybylla DeMontagna said of Harry’s alleged plea to Iger: “What an embarrassing move – does he realise Disney can’t say no, because of who he is?”Another Twitter user called it: “Tacky, tacky, tacky.”
Couple hug Elton and Furnish at the premiere