A1 0 eZ Re the washington post.saturday, february 22 , 2020
ish grocery stores — but that its
profit is funneled back into chari-
ties. Curtis added, “ ‘Duchy Origi-
nals’ doesn’t have the term ‘royal’
in it, s o there isn’t t hat very strong
association.”
Trading on the reputation and
celebrity of the British royal family
doesn’t tend to wash well with the
queen or the British public. The
queen’s eldest grandson, Peter
Phillips, recently raised eyebrows
when he appeared in a milk com-
mercial on Chinese television,
where he was introduced as a
“British Royal Family m ember.”
in H arry a nd Meghan’s c ase, the
value of their brand i sn’t n ecessar-
ily reliant on the name “Sussex
Royal” or whether they represent
the queen, said David Kippen, the
chief e xecutive of Evviva Brands, a
brand agency.
“in three years’ time, it will be
their star power and what they do
that ultimately creates o r destroys
the follower base they’ve created,
not the equity associated with the
name,” Kippen said.
[email protected]
[email protected]BY KARLA ADAM
AND JENNIFER HASSANLONDON — Harry and Meghan,
the Duke and Duchess of Sussex,
announced Friday that they will
give up their “Sussex Royal”
branding along with their royal
responsibilities this s pring.
Whether they could style them-
selves “royal” — and make money
while doing so — had been one of
the most contentious questions
about their nontraditional future
and a subject of discussions with
the q ueen.
“Given the specific UK govern-
ment rules surrounding use of the
word ‘Royal’, it has been therefore
agreed that their non-profit or-
ganisation, when it is announced
this Spring, will not be named
Sussex Royal Foundation,” their
spokeswoman said in a statement
issued Friday.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sus-
sex do not intend to use ‘Sus-
sexRoyal’ in any territory post
Spring 202 0,” the statement add-
ed.
That means Harry and Meghan
The World
eUROPeAN UNiON
L ong budget summit
ends without a deal
European Union leaders broke
up a marathon budget summit
without a deal Friday, and their
positions were still so far apart
that they couldn’t even decide
when to meet again on the
divisive issue.
After 28 hours of talks,
t he leaders could not find a
compromise, with a half-dozen
wealthy member states insisting
they would not provide
m ore funds for the bloc’s next
long-term spending package,
worth around 1 trillion euros,
o r $1.1 trillion.
What’s at stake is whether
leaders are ready to put their
money where their mouths are
when it comes to European
policy ambitions. At the same
time, amid poor economic
growth, they cannot afford to
give the impression to their
home audiences that they are
being free with taxpayers’ cash.
it was not clear exactly when a
new summit would be set.
Beyond the problems of
reconciling rich and poorer
member states, the departure of
Britain at the beginning of the
month, which was a bigcontributor to the E.U. coffers,
also made things tougher.
What are known as the
“Frugal Four” of Austria,
Denmark, the netherlands and
Sweden, and a few others,
believe that the E.U.’s 2021-
budget, which is meant to fund
ambitious climate change and
digital economy policies, should
amount to 1 percent of the
2 7-nation trading bloc’s gross
national income.
On the other hand, many of
the poorer member states and
the European Parliament wanted
to stick with a bigger budget of
1.3 percent.
— Associated PresstURKeYRein in Syrian forces,
Erdogan tells P utinTurkey’s president urged
Russian President Vladimir
Putin in a phone call Friday to
“restrain” t he Syrian government
and halt the humanitarian crisis
unfolding in northwestern Syria
as Damascus wages a military
offensive against the last rebel
stronghold in the country.
Recep Ta yyip Erdogan also
called for full implementation of
a 2018 Turkish-Russian cease-fire
agreement f or idlib province,
which collapsed after the Russia-backed Syrian government
advance, Erdogan’s office said.
The two leaders expressed
their commitment to “all
agreements,” Erdogan’s office
said, but did not elaborate.
Putin expressed “serious
concern with continuing
aggressive actions by extremist
groups [in idlib],” t he Kremlin
said in a statement. “The
necessity of unconditional
respect for the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of Syria was
underlined.”
The offensive has tested ties
between Turkey and Russia,
which had been working
together closely despite backingopposing sides in the Syrian war.
— Associated PressTrudeau decries rail blockades:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau said the barricades
blocking rail service in Canada
have to come down and court
injunctions must be obeyed.
Protesters have set up blockades
in British Columbia and Ontario
in solidarity with foes of the
Coastal GasLink pipeline project
that crosses the traditional
territory of the Wet’suwet’en
First nation in British Columbia.
Trudeau s aid people can’t get to
work and some have lost jobs.
— From news servicesDigestthere were approximately 20,000 last year, according
to Anna Sibirkina, who heads the World Without
Borders China Friendly program.
She credited the Chinese northern Lights myth for
the bump.
“You see a lot of young people and young couples
coming to Murmansk just for that,” Sibirkina said.
Oleg Te rebenin, the director of the tour operator
VisitMurmansk, said he personally doesn’t propa-
gate the myth, but “any belief that brings sales, why
not?”
Before the coronavirus outbreak, Murmansk
wasn’t equipped to accommodate all the new visi-
tors, Sibirkina said, but now the sudden drought is
hurting businesses.
Te rebenin estimated that 20 percent of his busi-
ness comes from Chinese tourists.
Coronavirus “has a major impact on us,” he said.
“it’s very sad.... But t his won’t b e for long. To day, o ur
Chinese colleagues sent us a very joyful letter that
they’re hopeful that Chinese will be traveling all over
the world again soon.”
[email protected]the Russian population.”
Relations between China and Russia have warmed
in recent years — Chinese President Xi Jinping
described Russian President Vladimir Putin as his
“best friend” last year — and Putin has publicly
praised China’s “decisive and vigorous” measures to
fight the virus.
Gabuev said he doesn’t e xpect any long-term s trains
between Moscow and Beijing because of the ban.
“The Kremlin understands symbolic value and
sensitivity of this issue to Beijing and Xi personally,”
Gabuev said. “A t the same time, Chinese leadership
understands the pragmatic need of Russia to protect
its population.”
Although Moscow and St. Petersburg remain the
top destinations in Russia for Chinese tourists, the
Arctic port of Murmansk has risen in popularity.
it is a cheaper alternative to seeing the northern
Lights in Scandinavian countries, and a tour of the
world’s first nuclear-powered icebreaker ship has
information and menus available in Chinese.
One in 5 of the region’s visitors is Chinese. Mur-
mansk saw just 4,000 Chinese tourists in 2016, butRussia’s total tourism, according to the World With-
out Borders travel association.
To ur operators expect losses of roughly $43.7 mil-
lion for January and February, and they fear that
could climb to more than $468 million if the ban is
not lifted until summer, the Association of To ur
Operators of Russia told the interfax news agency.
The group’s director has said it intends to ask for
compensation from the government.
Russia closed its entire 2,6 00 -mile border with
China three weeks ago.
“The only thing that can be ascertained is that all
necessary measures are being taken to prevent the
coronavirus from getting into our country and
spreading around,” Russian presidential spokesman
Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.
There is also probably politics at play.
“The government is answering to a popular de-
mand to deal with the threat and wants to show that
it’s moving ahead of the curve,” said Alexander
Gabuev, chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific Pro-
gram at the Carnegie Moscow Center. “it’s also a way
to contain rising Sinophobia among some pockets ofBY ISABELLE KHURSHUDYAN
i n MOSCOWAs Chinese tourists increasingly flocked to the
Russian Arctic in winter, locals began promoting an
old Chinese myth about the northern Lights: Con-
ceiving a child beneath them will bring the progeny
good fortune.
Even more Chinese tourists came. And Russians
were more than happy to cater to their desires —
romance, adventure — in exchange for an economic
boost for some of Russia’s most struggling regions.
now, fewer Aurora Borealis babies and a tourism
slump for Russia’s Far north are likely t o be among the
many g lobal ripple effects of the coronavirus o utbreak.
The country’s temporary entry ban for nearly all
Chinese — tourists, workers, students and private
travelers — started Thursday. But the measure has
been questioned by some critics as too extreme,
especially considering that just two cases of the
disease have been announced in Russia. Both pa-
tients have since recovered.
Chinese visitors account for nearly 30 percent of
In the Far North, far fewer Chinese tourists
Travel operators brace for losses as strict coronavirus measures prevent visitors from entering Russia
Lev Fedoseyev/tass/getty Images
A Chinese tourist sits outside a glass igloo Jan. 31 at the Aurora Village campground in Teriberka, on Russia’s Arctic coast. China accounts for nearly 30 percent of Russia’s tourism.they plan to capi tal i ze on that —
only that they “value the ability to
earn a professional income” and
want to set up a new nonprofit
while also becoming financially
independent. Last year, in addi-
tion to accepting money from the
taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant,
they got millions from Harry’s fa-
ther, Charles, through his Duchy
of Cornwall estate.
Lacey said t hat cutting ties may
be more than a financial proposi-
tion.
“Using the term ‘Sussex Royal’
would have involved strings back
to the palace that were neither
practical nor proper for a young
couple operating in the field of
social welfare a nd d evelopment i n
north America or internationally,”
he said.
Curtis, the trademark lawyer,
noted that Harry’s father set up
Duchy Originals — an organic
food company known for its tea,
biscuits and produce sold at Brit-line to inherit the throne from his
grandmother, Queen Elizabeth ii.
He a nd Meghan will continue to
be styled as the D uke and Duchess
of Sussex, and, if they want, could
also refer to themselves as t he E arl
and Countess of Dumbarton and
the B aron a nd Baroness Kilkeel.
But Harry and Meghan will no
longer be considered “senior roy-
als.” They will retain his and her
“Royal Highness” t itles but won’t
be allowed to use them.
Dickie Arbiter, a former press
secretary to the queen, said it was
right to drop “ Sussex Royal,” t oo.
“They are going commercial,
and they can’t use the term ‘royal’
for c ommercial purposes,” he said.
They certainly have plenty of
commercial potential. To take one
example, British Vogue said its
September issue, guest-edited by
Meghan, sold out in 10 days and
was the best-selling issue of the
past decade.
But t he c ouple has n ot said howbrands on certain goods and ser-
vices. But in Harry and Meghan’s
case, it would really be the queen
who would make the call on what
was a ppropriate.
“This all centers around the
queen,” he said. “She’s the person
who gives out royalty. if she has
problems with it, he can’t register
it or use it — or his foundation
can’t.”
Curtis added: “i think also it’s a
family thing. if your grandmother
tells you not t o use i t, you’re proba-
bly n ot going to use i t.”
Peter Hunt, a former BBC royal
correspondent, tweeted: “This is
what happens when you try to
bounce your 93 year old grand-
mother.”
Robert Lacey, a royal biogra-
pher, said a distinction is being
teased out between “Royal” with a
capital R and “royal” with a small r.
Te chnically, the couple will still
be royals. Prince Harry will s till b e
a prince. He will still be sixth inwill abandon the “Sussex Royal”
they have been using to promote
themselves on instagram and on
their new website. The spokes-
woman said trademark applica-
tions have also b een w ithdrawn.
According to a document o n the
British royal family’s website ti-
tled “Guidance o n the U se of Royal
Arms, n ames and images,” l egisla-
tion prohibits companies and lim-
ited liability p artnerships from be-
ing “registered under a name
which i ncludes any of the sensitive
words” — including “Royal,
Queen, King, Prince or Princess”
— unless “ the approval of the Sec-
retary of State has been o btained.”
it also states: “names of the
Royal Family may not be regis-
tered in, or as, trade marks with-
out the consent of The Queen or
the relevant Member of the Royal
Family.”
Lee Curtis, a trademark lawyer,
said the intent is to prevent non-
royals from registering “royal”Harry and Meghan to shed ‘Sussex Royal’ brand