A royal sightseeing tour that promised to take passengers within feet of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Montecito mansion has been axed over privacy concerns.
The hotspot tour, led by photographer Karl Larsen, Thomas Markle’s longtime pal, was advertised as the “Royal Celebrity Tour of Los Angeles and Montecito” on travel firm Tripening’s website.
According to The Mirror, each tour costs $1,200 for a group of six and promised royalists to get “an in-depth tour” of “where Meghan grew up” as well as the flashy area “where Harry and Meghan and an army of other A-listers call home.”
Larsen first listed the tour on Tripening with a description that read, “I’m the world-famous celebrity photographer Karl Larsen, a best friend of Thomas Markle (Meghan’s father) and the guy with a stunning exclusive portfolio of pictures of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle together in Montecito.”
The tour was advertised alongside a photo of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex kissing at a polo match in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Larsen boldly described himself as the “only person in the world” who “knows the truth about what happened between Meghan Markle and her father” ahead of her wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018, the outlet adds.
“I am the only person who has an open communication pathway between Meghan’s camp and the rest of the Markle family,” he wrote on the now-deleted listing. “There is nobody on the planet that knows more info that [sic] me and I’m the only person that’s qualified to put on such a tour.”
Passengers were promised to be taken to the exiled royal couple’s favorite hangouts, including the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club, Montecito eateries, and Meghan’s old schools.
But Larsen was soon left in hot water after being slapped with fierce backlash over privacy concerns.
Christopher Bouzy, a tech entrepreneur, branded the tour as “harassment” of Meghan and Harry, telling Newsweek, “The recent incident where a celebrity tour was being organized to visit the neighborhood of the Duke and Duchess’s residence is a concerning escalation of online harassment transitioning to the real world.
“The problematic listing was an act of targeted harassment, and it jeopardized the safety of the Duke and Duchess’s family.”
“The rise in online harassment underscores the urgent need for robust legislation to counteract this escalating problem that affects everyone,” he added.
In response, Larsen claimed he had “no intentions” of driving past the Sussexes’ house.
The photographer, who launched a YouTube channel with Meghan’s dad called “Remarkable Friendship” in March 2022, told the outlet, “I want to have the tour be available where she grew up. We’re going to go to Montecito but just places they go to, restaurants they go to.”
“It’s a custom tour so if people want to go see other sights that’s what we’re going to do but we will not go past Doria’s house and we will not go past Harry and Meghan’s,” he added.
Larsen said the backlash will not stop the tour from going ahead, adding, “This is not going to be the end of the tour.”