Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been targeted by trolls who are directing a website for their new Archewell charity to a video of Kanye West’s “Gold Digger.”
Fans who type in http://www.archewellfoundation.com are diverted to a YouTube video of Kanye West’s 2005 hit featuring Jamie Foxx.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who have just moved to Los Angeles, this week announced they are launching a foundation named Archewell after their baby son Archie. But it seems they failed to register the domain name in advance, as cyber squatters snapped it up and redirected it to YouTube, a gaffe quickly spotted by social media users.
One wrote beneath the song: “Hahahah who ever did this on Meghans and Harrys website is a genius …” as another added: “Directed from archewell.com lol lol — RUN NOW HARRY!!!!”
West himself was the target of a similar prank himself in 2015, when an internet troll made loser.com redirect to the rapper’s Wikipedia entry.
Prince Harry and Meghan have said they “look forward” to getting started with the Archewell foundation, which will replace their Sussex Royal brand. They were forced to axe Sussex Royal after the Queen banned them from using their royal ties to make money.
Harry and Meghan revealed the Greek word Arche — meaning source of action – was the inspiration behind the name of their son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.
In a statement, they said: “Like you, our focus is on supporting efforts to tackle the global Covid-19 pandemic. But faced with this information coming to light, we felt compelled to share the story of how this came to be.
“Before SussexRoyal, came the idea of “Arche” — the Greek word meaning ‘source of action. We connected to this concept for the charitable organization we hoped to build one day, and it became the inspiration for our son’s name.
“To do something of meaning, to do something that matters. Archewell is a name that combines an ancient word for strength and action, and another that evokes the deep resources we each must draw upon. We look forward to launching Archewell when the time is right.”
Further details about the organization have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The couple said an announcement will be made “when the time is right.”
Harry and Meghan were criticized for the timing of their announcement, which unfortunately coincided with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson being moved into intensive care with coronavirus.