Some will argue, but I think the Sussexes’ Oprah interview was more of a “cultural reset” than Meghan’s The Cut profile. Maybe that will change as more people read and reread the profile and really analyze what she was saying. But the Oprah interview was just wall-to-wall impact immediately, even for weeks before the interview aired. I bring that up because the British media is still grasping for ways to criticize Meghan’s The Cut profile. So they focused on Meghan’s story about how she went to the Lion King premiere soon after she gave birth to Archie. According to Meghan, a South African cast member pulled her aside and “He said, ‘I just need you to know: When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison.’” She was not comparing herself to Nelson Mandela, she was trying to capture the global interest in her marriage, and how big it was that a Black American woman married into this ancient colonizer family. So, the Daily Mail got in touch with Mandela’s grandson who (of course) blasted Meghan for thinking that she’s just like Mandela.
Nelson Mandela’s grandson today slammed Meghan Markle for suggesting her marriage to Prince Harry sparked scenes of joy in South Africa reminiscent of the 1990 release of the legendary anti-apartheid campaigner after 27 years in jail, telling MailOnline: ‘It can never be compared to the celebration of someone’s wedding.’
Zwelivelile ‘Mandla’ Mandela has said he was ‘surprised’ at her remarks in The Cut magazine when she claimed that three years ago a cast member of the Lion King had made the comparison between her royal wedding and Madiba’s historic walk to freedom.
He said: ‘Madiba’s celebration was based on overcoming 350 years of colonialism with 60 years of a brutal apartheid regime in South Africa. So It cannot be equated to as the same.’ Referring to Meghan, he said: ’Every day there are people who want to be Nelson Mandela, either comparing themselves with him or wanting to emulate him. But before people can regard themselves as Nelson Mandelas, they should be looking into the work that he did and be able to be champions and advocates of the work that he himself championed’.
The furore was sparked by a 6,409-word article called ‘Meghan of Montecito’ published yesterday, where the former Suits star recalled an encounter she had at the 2019 London premiere of a live-action version of the Disney classic. She said an actor from South Africa pulled her aside and told her: ‘I just need you to know: When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison’.
But MailOnline has learned that the story has astonished the Mandela family. ‘Mandla’ Mandela, an MP and Chief of the late South African President’s Mvezo tribe, said he was ‘surprised’ at her remarks.
First of all, it’s amazing to me that the Mail has been continuously noting the NUMBER OF WORDS IN THE CUT PROFILE. They are outraged about the fact that The Cut profile was so long! How dare a Black woman think she deserves WORDS?? As for what Zwelivelile ‘Mandla’ Mandela has to say… it reminds me of a story I didn’t cover at the time, which was when the Mail did the exact same f–king thing when Prince Harry spoke at the United Nations. Harry was invited by the Mandela Foundation to speak for Mandela Day. The Mail interviewed one of Mandela’s relatives and quoted her as saying it was awful because Harry is white and he’s nothing like Mandela. The Mail did the same thing here – even though Meghan is simply recounting what someone told her (within a particular context), they’re desperately trying to make it sound like she believes she’s Nelson Mandela. (Now, do I also think that Meghan could have avoided this dumbass plotline? Yes. She’s smart enough to know how that particular story would get twisted.)
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN, Backgrid.
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- Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (L) and Britain’s Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (R) arrive to attend the European premiere of the film The Lion King in London on July 14, 2019.,Image: 536655781, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- HRH Prince Harry, The Duke Of Sussex and HRH Meghan Markle, The Duchess Of Sussex attend The European Premiere of The Lion King at Odeon Luxe, Leicester Square, London, England, UK on Sunday 14 July 2019. Picture by Justin Ng/Retna/Avalon.,Image: 536655802, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, BRAZIL, CANADA ** London, UNITED KINGDOM – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend The Lion King film premiere in Leicester Square. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 14 JULY 2019 BYLINE MUST READ: TIMMSY / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, BRAZIL, CANADA ** London, UNITED KINGDOM – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend The Lion King film premiere in Leicester Square. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 14 JULY 2019 BYLINE MUST READ: TIMMSY / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at the European Premiere of Disney’s The Lion King at the Odeon Luxe cinema, Leicester Square, London on July 14th 2019
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- Film premiere of The Lion King held at Odeon Leicester Square in London Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Where: London, United Kingdom When: 15 Jul 2019 Credit: WENN.com
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- Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (L) and Britain’s Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (R) arrive to attend the European premiere of the film The Lion King in London on July 14, 2019.
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- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive on the yellow carpet at the European premiere of Disneys “The Lion King” on Sunday 14 July 2019 at ODEON LUXE Leicester Square, London. Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. /LFI/Avalon. All usages must be credited Julie Edwards/LFI/Avalon. Picture by Julie Edwards/LFI/Avalon. All usages must be credited Julie Edwards/LFI/Avalon.
I believe this is the same grandson that had something to say about Harry talking at the UN. He must be hard up for cash.
And, wow, just when you thought they couldn’t get any pettier, they unlocked a new level…they’re doing a word count now? What is the reason!?
I remember reading somewhere that this grandson is estranged from the rest of his family and not really involved with the Mandela Foundation so it could be that this is coming from a place of jealousy and need for attention.
@Emily
This puts his behaviour into context. I hope this is duly noted by the Sussexes to refrain from making remarks and recollections that can illicit his disparaging remarks.
Thanks for sharing.
No matter Mandela’s grandson motives, I am appalled at the Faulty Wail’s wicked maneuver here: exhorting a black person to impugn the candid intentions and question the humility of a biracial person is evil genius. This DIVIDE TO CONQUER STRATEGY was already implemented by pitting the father against the daughter, then the older sister against the younger sister, and now a black person against his female counterpart. I believe that not only does this foul press make a lot of money of off slandering Meghan, they keep pushing relentlessly every button, hoping she will commit suicide.
They’re after her marriage, her wealth, her family bliss, her safety, her reputation, and they’ll stop at nothing. Perhaps they should know their racially insulated establishment can only “Diana” somebody once, because this time around
– we have entered the digital age, which makes it impossible for any conspiracy to be kept secret more than 6 hours
+
– we are an entiere army behind Meghan.
This is gonna be fun.
He is getting paid for his anti-Meghan contributions.
And she already parses and sensors what she says quite enough already. SO much so that she sometimes gets blamed for being too rehearsed/not authentic. I am happy she is allowing herself some latitude to recount some stories and not ensuring it is most correct; so that it she does not get caught -up like this by the British Mail. They will do it anyways….So she should authentically tell as many anecdotes as she wants to, in her own way, as long as she avoids legal issues.
He was once arrested for possession of guns and drugs.
Such a scandalous fellow.
Snuffles, this is the equivalent of counting for bathrooms in their home. How dare Meghan have the audacity to have this amount of words for an article!
They get paid by the word @snuffles. They are so bitter thinking what a check for a 6,409 word interview with Meghan would look like.
My understandin of Mandla Mendela is that he isn’t exactly well liked. The Guardian did a story about him years ago. Doesn’t sound like someone who cares about people. There’s this one too..skipping out on child support payments?.
https://www.expatica.com/za/general/arrest-warrant-issued-for-mandela-grandson-media-62655/
Listen, as a South African I did kind of roll my eyes when M told that story but I also recognize that she’s free to stay whatever the f*ck she wants because it’ll get twisted regardless🤷🏾♀️. Also, Mandela’s grand children are barely paid attention to here in SA. A lot of them are grifting on the great man’s name so I’m not surprised Mandla is trying his luck as a DM puppet.
I thought it was a bit much too but I’ll give it a pass since she’s not even the one who said the quote, lol. And the sentence after it was “Meghan knows she’s no Mandela” or something to that effect, so yeah. I think Meghan would agree completely it’s not the same.
Yeah I also thought it was a bit much. I believe Meghan that it was said to her but i don’t think repeating it was the best move since it’s just so over the top – and likely not true.
That’s exactly why I am a strong believer that the Sussexes should not hesitate to heavily edit their interviews, seek for third-party opinion, give up on 100% spontaneous trusting open-heart interviews, in order to dodge the bullets of the royal sycophants’ character assassination spin canon. This is communication warfare, you guys, so they have to come prepared to the fact that every word they say will be distorted and weaponized against them.
The truth is people DID gather in groups all around South Africa to celebrate the royal wedding in 2018. People were happy and proud to see a prince of England’s royal family, Harry, “a white-ass colonizer” marry Meghan, “a black girl.”
Where was this faux outrage when the Queen compared herself to Mandela a few months ago, PLEASE.
Not knowing anything about this ‘Mandla’ character and intrigued by some of the comments here, I’ve broken my principle to never click on the Daily Fail to bring y’all another Daily Fail article, this time about the person the Fail is trying to (o holy surprise) prop up now.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2192826/The-sex-scandal-grandson-plotting-make-millions-Mandelas-death.html
Good sleuthing, thank you! This guy has zero credibility.
@BlackFemmeBot – So true. I’m sure Madiba is rolling in his grave about the behaviour of some of his grandchildren etc.
It’s also very possible that SA actor is too young to really appreciate how momentous Mandela’s walk to freedom was at the time, and actors frequently talk in hyperbole, so it’s over the top. Still, a Black American woman marrying into Colonialist Central was significant, and I’m sure South Africans were overjoyed. I get the grandson and other relatives being defensive of Mandela’s legacy, but this seems gratuitous and mean spirited. Very disappointing.
Yeah, Meghan could have skipped that anecdote. I thought the more important part of her story about the Lion King premiere was how frightened she was to go at all. I think the actor’s words were a balm and reassuring at that very fragile time.
Isn’t this the same person who had a problem with Harry speaking at the UN for Mandela Day? It’s interesting to see the press be offended on behalf of South Africans when they supported the Apartheid regime and believed that Nelson Mandela was a terrorist.
No we South Africans did not care. Why would we care what Americans and British people do?
I would very much like to know the name of the cast member.
Just because you didn’t care doesn’t mean that there weren’t some that did. I definitely seen Meghan fans from SA on social media supporting her and Harry. I agree it’s an odd thing to say but it’s that person’s feelings/experience.
Then the cast member should had said ‘I celebrated’ which was not the case. Rather, they implied street celebrations were held and Meghan reiterated it. There were no mass celebrations.
Meh, this is just Meghan haters nitpicking and trying to stir up crap unnecessarily. If YOU didn’t celebrate, maybe the cast member and his family and friends were in the streets? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and none’s is more valid than the others. Just because you didn’t celebrate doesn’t necessarily mean the cast member should of said “I” just to sooth anyone. This is the DF and their minions trying to infiltrate and try to poison any and every site that dares say anything positive about the Sussexes. While there were some people that would never stay up late to watch a wedding of someone they have never met etc, I and my family and friends all stayed up till late in the wee hours of the morning with our eyes glued on TV waiting to watch the Sussex wedding. So if I said we all stayed up to watch and celebrate the Sussex wedding I should be blasted for not saying “I”? SA is a country of millions of people, the cast member and those he knew were in the streets while Mandla and those on here posting about how they don’t care weren’t, so what?
@Alice – It is possible the person relating the story did participate in celebrations on his street, along with others on his street. Also possible that several blocks away nobody celebrated. The only thing this article demonstrates is that British tabloids have taken lessons from BRF-establishment in divide and conquer, and that Daily Fail will pay anyone to spout something that fits with their a priori conclusions.
Thank you @waterlily – the only SA cast member in Lion King was Dr John Kani (a national treasure) and he did not attend the London premiere. So I don’t know who could have said this to her, at that exact time.
It was poor judgement of her to share that story, but it has to be so difficult to constantly have your defenses up, knowing every word that comes out of your mouth will be scrutinized and exaggerated and criticized.
Why was it poor judgment? Even she hadn’t included it the press would have picked on something else. You should know that by now. The press is trying to stop her from talking and if she has to worry about what she says all the time then the press have won.
Exactly Amy Bee. Notice how the press are staying away from Harry’s comment on how his family don’t like to work and live together? They would have found ANYTHING Meghan said and created ridiculous controversy.
It wasn’t in poor judgement, she repeated someone else’s comment and that was it, its not that big of a deal. And TBH there are a lot of people in the world that feel the way the cast member felt. And while Mandela was a great man, there are millions of people BOTH IN SA and elsewhere that didn’t necessarily care for him. There are millions that don’t really think he was all that and a bag of chips, to each their own. Meghan or anyone else shouldn’t live their lives walking on eggshells, trying to carefully pick and choose each and every word they say just so they don’t anger this or that person or just so the DF doesn’t get words to twist. Life is way too short to live it trying to always please people that have made it a point to get pissed at anything Meghan/Harry/Sussex regardless. The haters are still mad about Lilibet having blue eyes and being ginger. They’re mad because Archie has a head full of “ginger curls like his father”, my goodness. Meghan can say whatever she wants, it’s a free country, whoever doesn’t like what she says should just scroll past and not click on any Sussex-related articles.
Not arguing with your other points, but Mandela has a very high status in many countries in the world, I think.
I was a kid in Europe when he was released. We all thought he was amazing and needed to be freed right now.
@gem – I agree it wasn’t the best story to repeat. Or at least not the Mandela comparison part of it – that was a bit cringey…
I don’t get the “she shouldn’t have told this story” argument. The RR is gonna hate regardless, and if it wasn’t this story, it would be something else. So why should Meghan censor her words/stories? She deserves not to live in fear of what these jerks will say.
I don’t think people here would argue that she shouldn’t be free to say whatever she wants- of course she should!
But as we always say to republicans banging on about “cancel culture,” you are free to say what you want, but people are free to criticize you.
This was an objectively poor and avoidable choice, even if you think Meghan is amazing in general.
I do think Meghan is amazing and I agree this was an objectively poor and avoidable choice. Generally speaking, don’t put your name in the same sentence as Mandela.
It must be intense to have to watch everything you say no matter how small, because you just know it will get twisted into a million irrelavant points. I am also guessing the Daily Fail called Mandla and said ‘Meghan Markle just compared her extravagant wedding to your grandpas imprisonment..thoughts please !?’
^^ DF also surely paid him too. IMO, he’s not credible as a spokesperson for the Mandela family. Meghan is cautious enough as it is. We’ve rarely seen or heard from her for a couple of years. Everyone has been parched and waiting with bated breath to hear from her and to get glimpses of her and the children. This includes haters, admirers, and rota monetizers!
That’s a heavy load to bear for anyone. That Meghan is bearing it and trying to get out from under it so her voice can be heard in meaningful ways SHOULD NOT be overly critiqued and scrutinized so vindictively. Many of us here IMO are over-reacting to the vindictive DF attacks by piling on with policing her.
These extended families of cultural icons always end up thirsty for a sliver of limelight. I hope he enjoyed the fifteen minutes, because we are NEVER hearing from him again
Again: Is everyone on crack? Why are they contacting family members? Was it a bit over the top of her to tell that story? Yes, I did a double-take as well but she said what she said. If you don’t love it, that’s fine. We can move on. I know people who like and support H&M don’t like any sort of criticism because a lot of it is unwarranted and the attacks are so often personal and full of vitriol. But now that they can speak freely, they will absolutely say shit that’s a bit too much or too navel-gazing or too rehearsed or too … something. It’s fine.
Guys, this is just what the DF wants from both Meghan supporters and from deranged Meghan haters — i.e., overly critical and OTT reactions to their biased, petty, paid-for attacks against any random thing she says that they can manage to twist. Congratulations for allowing your reactionary buttons to be pushed. It’s fine if you don’t think she should have said this. It was a random memory she relayed to make a point. Not something she practiced and rehearsed! She will have a hard time having a recorded conversation with anyone if she can’t feel comfortable speaking freely. That’s what the DF maliciously wants! They are trying to silence her, and they’ll use any nefarious means to achieve this nasty objective.
BTW @Colby, Meg did NOT compare herself to Mandela. Neither did The Cut writer.
I love Meg, but this was an unforced error, I’m sorry to say. I think it’s best to never compare yourself to people like Mandela, MLK, etc at all costs, even if you’re quoting someone else. Because even if you’re just quoting someone else, you’re still bringing it up. It never looks good IMO.
But she didn’t compare herself to Mandela.
As I said in my comment “even if you’re just quoting someone else”
Why are we trying to censor Meghan? This is what the press and the Palace wants.
I don’t see anyone here trying to censor her. We’re saying “that wasn’t the best thing to say”
Do you understand the difference there? It’s possible to offer valid criticism of someone even if you are a fan of theirs.
She didn’t say anything offensive so why the demand for her not to retell a story that was told to her. Lili down post explains exactly why for some people Meghan marrying into the Royal Family was a cultural moment. It didn’t work out because the Royal Family is built on white supremacy but it was a significant event and we shouldn’t deny that just because the press doesn’t like what she says or how she says it
@AmyBee, You are correct!
Look, anyone who feels Meg shouldn’t have relayed the anecdote, that’s your opinion for whatever reason. My opinion is that such policing toward Duchess Meg is an over-reaction to the DF’s scorched-earth f*ckery. Consider the source please. Mandela’s grandson is clearly demonstrated to have questionable motives. He was surely paid to feign outrage against Meghan. Big deal! Who is he to join the DF in throwing stones at Meghan?! What has he accomplished of note in his life? What has he been doing on an ongoing basis to help his countrymen and other people in need? The same goes for the actor the DF scrounged up. Do we know for certain that this is the same actor who spoke to Meghan at the London premiere? If he is, did he have a brain drain and memory loss as a result of being paid off by the DF?
Can we please remember the extent to which the DF vipers and other smear-campaign haters are willing to go to slander and abuse Meghan. Remember the actor who said he was offered a $70,000 bribe by the DF to lie about having sexual relations with Meg, when in reality they simply had one casual lunch date together, and nothing else? The DF is vile and relentless in trying to tear down a remarkable woman who is trying to move on with her life.
Why join the DF in attempting to overly critique and scrutinize everything Meg says? She’s not perfect. She’s never claimed to be perfect. And she’s not trying to be perfect. She’s human. Take the microscope off of her please. We have rarely seen or heard from Meghan since March 2020. As she tries to segue back into a more public working life, can those of us who support her at the very least lay off and recognize when the rota’s and DF’s bile against her are pushing our buttons?!
Meg relayed a random conversation about what someone else said to her! She DID NOT compare herself to Nelson Mandela. Let’s enjoy having conversations about constructive critiques of Meg’s Archetypes without over-reacting to every petty attack against Meg that the DF launches. 10 more weeks guys! Please relax and chill, or be prepared to see Meg decide to return to only sporadic public appearances. I personally wish to see more of her and to hear her voice in whichever way she chooses to use it. She can’t parse her every utterance. She’s already uber protective, wary and over-cautious enough, as The Cut writer indicated in the profile.
Mkay here is why. The original comment is overly obsequious and factually dubious. It’s the type of complement you graciously thank a person for and dismiss as overly enthusiastic. It’s not something you repeat to illustrate a reality about the world. Idk I guess there is an argument to be made she’s just talking about the actor’s impression. But still. I feel it was an unforced error. I love her. I rarely can’t endorse everything she does. 99.99% is still an A++.
And frankly the reality is that Meghan is a deeply important global phenomenon. May this was just a clumsy way of saying something like that.
I don’t care if you love her. She’s free to say what she wants. You may not like it but I don’t think we should policing what she says especially after having the press and Palace do that to her for years.
@AmyBee, no one here is “policing” Meghan. We’re just giving our own individual opinions, which may differ from yours, but that we’re all entitled to have.
@Lorelei, I think what @Amy Bee is talking about are comments like “She shouldn’t have said or repeated this comment” or “she should have found another way of saying it”. People, Meghan is human, and no human should be policed about what they should say or how they should say what so that the DF doesn’t criticize them. Honestly folks, if Meghan said “this so and so came to me and said to me ‘when you got married into that family, we were all in the streets like we did when [Kwame Nkrumah or Patrice Lumumba or Jomo Kenyatta, Samora Machel, Haile Selassie, Julius Nyerere, etc. pick one] was released'” would you all have commented about how she shouldn’t compare herself to this great man? I doubt it. The truth is Mandela is no greater than any of those other African heroes, and had he lived he would be the first person to tell you so.
I think Meghan is still very vulnerable and defensive and hurt, and as she’s starting to be more public, she wants to win us over. My takeaway is that she is a naturally gregarious and open person, who likes to share but that past few years has made that next to impossible. The comment was a bit much, but that’s what someone told her and she felt it important to share it. Being demonized on the scale she has had left major bruises and sometimes, these little anecdotes, which in anyone else would be a shrug, are blown up and amplified to scandal level. I’m happy the podcast is a success, she’s so good at it, and hope eventually this furor will settle down. They can’t be outraged week after week, please I hope not.
Aw, yeah, she is still vulnerable and it must be hard to have constant and daily vitriol coming at you. Idk, I just feel really protective over her, as I think we all do. It was so nice to hear Meghan and Mariah talking, it sounded like even Mariah felt protective over her in a way, telling her it’s okay to be a diva sometimes and to own it. Not that meghan needs protecting necessarily but having people who support you means a lot. Meghan is an adult woman and can take criticism when it’s fair. Saying she compares herself to Mandela is incorrect but if some criticize that she brought him up in this context, it’s fair. To say she should never speak again bc of it is unfair and agenda-based.
^^ The point is: Meg was simply recalling how uncertain and nervous she felt at the Lion King premiere and how the actor’s words shared to her directly made her feel comforted and encouraged. To me, the comment was not intended to equate Meg with Mandela. I interpret it simply as an acknowledgement of how some black people felt celebratory about seeing someone they could identify with representing them symbolically on a global scale, in an unprecedented and unexpected way.
It’s no different from MLK purposely speaking to Nichelle Nichols at an event in the late 1960s to let her know how proud she made him and every black person feel seeing her represent us (in the role of Lt. Uhura) on the television screen. A rare occurrence in those years, believe it!
Meghan simply fell in love with a prince. She isn’t patting herself on the back for that. She’s grateful for her blessings, and she’s still trying to process the level of vitriol against her that her marriage to Harry has unleashed. The fact that the actor said those words to her is coincidental. She relayed the incident to illustrate how it made her feel less stressed about the unrelieved hell she was and is still going through with the firm, the BM, online trolls, and even with petty POTUS Trump having called her a ‘nasty woman’ soon after she had given birth to her first child. Trump’s petty slam against vulnerable, postpartum Meghan also came just before he himself was feted at a state dinner by the Queen and the U.K. government! Context is everything!
I thought it was clear that she wasn’t comparing herself to Mandela per se, she was talking about the global interest in their wedding and what it meant to so many for a black woman to marry into the British royal family. It wasn’t necessarily about her personally, it wasn’t like South Africans were like “oh yay MEGHAN is marrying into the family!” it was about the historical significance of a black woman marrying a British prince.
Was the comment likely to get twisted? of course. but what else is new with the British press and Meghan?
@Becks I think that’s because you- and most of us here- actually read the entire article, so we saw the quote in its context (and imo CBers have better reading comprehension skills than many!). Everyone is inundated with sooooo much content every day; lots of people probably just skimmed or saw headlines like “MEGHAN COMPARES HERSELF TO MANDELA!!” not bothering to actually read the whole passage. WE know that is not what happened, but I would have thought M would have predicted how twisted it would get, and maybe leave it out for that reason.
^^ Thank you @ Becks1. You echo my own sentiments about this needless tempest in a teapot.
If Meghan in fact said this then yes, if people are side eyeing her they have every right to do so. H&M fans run the spectrum from the most devout (almost deifying them) to those who are “cool” with them but know they are not above criticism. H&M are human and are going to sporadically say gaffs or idiotic things and if this story is true then yes, this is one of them b/c it is side-eye worthy. There are different types of joy; Mandela being free and the mass wave of love and support is vasty different to happiness fans experience say at a concert or in this case a Royal Wedding (in which a British royal married a biracial woman). Both happy occasions but for very different reasons and the reasons are important.
This is the most well-reasoned response. Yes, Megan isn’t always right, and she does make mistakes. She’s human. Of course, she does. That quote is cringy. As a Black American, it comes across as “people lined the streets and celebrated because you”…check notes “married a distinguished yte man.” That’s an extreme hyperbolic comparison. So it comes across as poorly for Megan to share it as a sweet anecdote. We can’t always dismiss when other BIPOCs have something constructive to say about Megan.
A large part of the reason that Diana was so beloved was BECAUSE she was flawed! It made her relatable. (Something the BRF will apparently never grasp.)
The fact that I don’t think including this particular anecdote in the article was the best idea certainly doesn’t make me think any less of Meghan.
She’s never pretended to be perfect, and imo that’s part of the reason she’s so incredibly likable.
@Imara219, and @JMoney, IMO, you are missing the full context and intent. First of all, Meg did not rehearse and decide in advance to say this. Plus, these are not her words. Someone else expressed it to her. She relayed the anecdote to describe how uncertain and vulnerable she was feeling at that premiere. She wasn’t comparing herself to Mandela. The actor’s encouraging words simply made her feel better. IMO, a lot of people here are over-reacting to having their emotional buttons pushed by the DF’s petty vitriol.
Check the context. It’s simply about black people identifying with Meg in an unexpected and unprecedented role on a global scale. She didn’t do anything but fall in love and carry herself with grace and dignity. So it’s less about her personally and more about what her new role and global visibility means symbolically. Notice how the DF and the haters relentlessly despise her for existing. Meg cannot second guess her every utterance. This spur-of-the-moment recollection is not something to criticize her for recalling. Roll your eyes if you must, but to me that seems as if you’re knee-jerk buying into or over-reacting to the DF’s twisted smearing.
fwiw mandla has long been a problematic character, and it’s well known here in southern african circles; he’s been accused of sexual assault by multiple women and he’s had a long string of other scandals that he’s apparently estranged from his own family.
i wouldn’t put much credibility to anything he says.
in any case, i understand that meghan wants to be open and relatable on her podcast, by sharing personal stories etc, but i will say it’s probably in her best interest at this point to stop recounting shit that happened way back, esp during her royal days. i know she was trying to make the point (again) that the RF lost out on diversity points by letting her go, but hey she did the reset with the sussexit and oprah interview, so now it’s really time to move on, you know?
she (and harry) will get attacked nomatter what, but i’m not sure she helps herself with some of her choices from time to time.
love her, though.
She hasn’t said that much about what happened to her. And what she has is probably the tip of the iceberg. I get if you don’t like this anecdote but the idea she shouldn’t talk in general about what was one of the biggest sensations the monarchy faced in the modern era, which was her experience, makes no sense to me.
babes, i know there’s soo much she hasn’t said still, and it’s her right to speak of course, but i think there’s more to her than her 2 years on salty island, and there are some of us sussex fans who’d rather hear more anecdotes about her current sunny life in cali, her adorable babies, the dogs, and even some cute stories from when she herself was younger.
you know, shit we haven’t already heard about a hundred times now.
meghan is a fun, gracious person, and honestly i don’t think it’s fair that she be forever defined by the trauma of her experience in the RF.
projects like this podcast are a way for her to carve out her own voice, and to show us other things about her and her interests, etc.
she did have a life before royalty, and she has one now – a happier, healthier one.
must so much of what she says/does always *have* to be connected to the RF somehow?
Your mileage may vary. I’m a fan of hers but also someone who studied British royalty for a long time (and I mean in the academic as well as extracurricular/hobby sense). I’m verrrry interested in what she has to say, and I don’t think it defines her. But, it was a huge and pivotal part of her life and it will always be part of her, the same way this will always be a part of British royal history by now. The big experiences we go through in life shape us and the way we talk about things. And so much has happened, but it’s only been two years which is honestly not that much for what they’ve gone through. It’s not like it’s been a decade. But that’s just me.
sigh… i give up.
Give up what? I was telling you why her words resonate for me and my opinions (I think there are others like me) not telling you what to think.
Yeah. She really should just stop talking royal. I mean, it probably does consume an outsize portion of her limbic lizard brain, that being the only time in her life when her self preservation instinct was overwhelmed to the point of thinking about how to do it (suicide). Just like that whole overblown thing about the melted heater on SA tour – she should just stfu already. Right?
@Kirk, I’m eagerly awaiting the responses from everyone who takes this literally 🤪
Oh, Kirk, you are a sly one.😉
All these Meghan bashing stories just makes me wonder more what the heck is happening behind the scenes regarding the Pegbridges and Mr and Mrs Tampon. They are jumping up and down literally screaming nothing to see here, look at Meghan, look at Meghan, see what she’s doing
The lady on loose women said it better that I can But Meghan marrying into the royal family was a huge cultural moment on a scale similar to Mandela being released from prison. What the reporters are trying to do is diminish this moment for melanated people the world over . Whilst she is not claiming to be an exact replica of Mandela but her stepping into that family was a huge cultural reset moment that everyone has failed to live up to. Charles walking her down the aisle was huge and fairy tale like in its scope as it gave a veneer of a family embracing all and being able to step up to the plate when others failed to do so. But in the end it was all a farce. Because no one recognised what the rest of the world was seeing it’s quite sad. As for Mandela son or grandson he is too close a marriage into the royal family does not equate to abolishing 60 years of apartheid or the symbolic release of a freedom fighter.
On a scale similar to Mandela being released from prison? I think it would have been better for her to just say that her wedding was a huge cultural moment without sharing stories of analogies to Mandela. I didn’t think the Mandela comparison added anything at all and at least imo was offensive and seemed deluded.
i agree.
A wedding between one privileged coloniser and a woman, no matter who she is (and let’s face it, Meghan is an actress), will never equate to the cultural watershed that was Mandela being released from prison. What on earth…?! I feel like I’m taking crazy pills hearing people genuinely think those two events are remotely comparable.
Mandela SUFFERED and endured far more than Meghan ever did or will, sorry but that’s the absolute truth. His release ushered in a new era in South Africa. Meghan did it tough but my lord, talk about tone deaf. You just don’t put those two events in the same sentence, it’s a huge gaffe.
I don’t feel any kind of way about what Meghan said, but overall, I think this is sort of a win for her? Hear me out.
I think all Meghan (& Harry) have ever really wanted was to be judged for what they do & say, not the lies made up by the tabloids. I don’t think Meghan would have a problem being judged for remarks she actually made. She’s strong enough to stand up to criticism about things that are true. What was unbearable was being lied about & being silenced.
@Lizzie this is a great point!
Well, at least now people can say she can do interviews in which she is criticized and not sanitized by the writer. Side note: she looks so pretty in those pictures from the Lion King premiere. At the time, so many people were so mean saying she was fat. What were they thinking? She looks lovely,even if it was a stressful time.
She isn’t the first person of colour to marry into the Royal Family recently. The Duke of Gloucesters daughter married a Māori man, which everyone conveniently forgets
Aren’t they divorced now and no senior royals even bothered to attend the wedding so I’m not sure this is a great success story!
At this point the Gloucesters are Royal adjacents and far away from throne. Meghan marrying into the Family is not the same. She got a title, was made a working royal and expected to represent the Queen.
Meghan isn’t a Barbie doll or android. She’s a human being and because of this, she will say things people disagree with. It’s whatever, she was just sharing a story.
It is blatantly clear that Meghan was not comparing herself to Mandela. That is clarified in the CUT profile. She is however comparing both moments (yes, as related to her by someone else), but clearly Meghan thought about it and felt it was an ok comparison to make because she has relayed it to us. It comes across as tone-deaf, because you either understand the significance and weight of Mandela being freed from prison was or you don’t.
If Meghan marrying into the Royal Family was meaningful, then Mandela being freed was stratospheric, and she should know this and keep such narratives to herself or go one better and correct whoever said it. As said above neither Harry nor Meghan are perfect so there’ll be missteps, but they have shown that they can learn and course correct.
I imagine whoever said it to her was trying to compliment her and/or impress her, who knows if there was any truth to what they said or not, but I’m surprised that Meghan would publicly share that story. I think she could have picked another way to describe that there was cultural and historical significance to her marrying into the royal family.
I can see the parallels here.
Meghan is taking on the monarchy. As a Black woman.
Diana tried, & even with all the people who loved & adored her, couldn’t even budge the goalposts.
Meghan is taking on one of the oldest & most racist institutions in history. She’s making history.
A mixed race person marrying into the lily-white Windsor family is definitely something of huge significance, which everyone failed to consider seriously- both the negative and positive. Both the racism and and the and the apparent “progress” should have been topics of serious discussion by appropriate sources- Not gossip writers- but certainly everyone from ordinary Britons to historians to cultural anthropologists. This whole issue has been hijacked by an ignorant and racist press. The original story is a bit over the top to begin with- told by someone perhaps trying to impress Meghan. Better judgement should have been not to repeat it simply because it is a bit over the top, and secondly because without a doubt it would be twisted and misconstrued.
I love Meghan. I do. But I’m with Kaiser on this one. Was that story really necessary to tell? She should have known it would get twisted. It just seemed unnecessary. I mean they were going to get their panties in a bunch no matter what she said. In her shoes, I would have been more careful about the ammunition I gave them.
Probably unnecessary, but as to your last comment, you only have to look at how they did the same thing here when Harry was merely invited to speak at the UN.
Well put, Naomi, I too like her generally but yes there is an ego and some things i side eye. The Jessica Maloney bff to me is clearly Meg trying to get some famous friends in Canada. She likes to have rich and famous connections and you don’t get those connections by hanging out with the union guys from your show and you don’t meet a prince that way either. She is free to live her life and her and Harry are the best of the bunch of the royals but there are still egos and a lot of extravagance and privilege. I don’t get the extreme polarization of her, she is either a do no wrong saint or the most evil woman ever. I see her as a generally decent person who is doing good stuff in a ridiculous situation but it’s not like she is gonna start building houses for the homeless like Jimmy Carter . She’s is gonna show up looking pretty at events and do podcasts and stuff like that and then go back to her Santa Barbara palace.
I totally agree with you on all points except the last piece. She does not just show up to events looking pretty and do podcasts. The Archewell Foundation has been really impactful in a very short period of time. It has already won awards for social impact. That’s nothing to sneeze at and shows that she and Harry really do care deeply about charitable endeavors and are smart enough to put a great team together. This is what makes me a fan of theirs, while also recognizing that they are still rich people with egos and a certain degree of narcissism.
?? Meghan hasn’t spoken about Jessica in years and she can choose what friends she wants. She has plenty of others that she’s still close to like Lindsay Roth who she knows from college. Everybody in the world networks. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have friends who aren’t rich and powerful.
There are four sides to discussing Meghan, it seems: the one where you can’t ever criticize anything, the one where you can acknowledge she’s a human being and may make an ill-advised comment once in a while but still admire her, the one where she can’t do anything right, and then the one where if you make one critique others decide that’s the proper opening to pile on about how she is egotistical with “I love her but yeah, she’s totally full of herself” or something. I suspect the Venn diagram of the second and third overlap quite a bit.
Meghan does do real work and as we have seen, some of it is under the radar and doesn’t get reported. José Andrés is a person who does real work. He has spoken more than once about Harry and Meghan and the work they do, and if he praises somebody that means something to me.
third and fourth*
@C, I’m glad you clarified! Because I was thinking I was in the second group, but then saw that, and was like, “wait a minute!” lol. So your clarification made me feel a lot better (:
I also think you nailed it with your assessment of the four sides. 🎯
I only wish that more people fell into the second group. But there are so many people so eager to hate her no matter WHAT she does…it’s so disheartening.
Yeah, and I think it’s why so many fall into the first. (and yes, had to act quick to correct, haha!)
I agree with this totally. I’m firmly in the 2nd category you described. This thread is the Ellen appearance thread reincarnated. At the end of the day, this one incident only serves to remind us that Meghan is HUMAN — not a deity or saint, and not an evil, scheming harlot either like the rats would have us believe. She probably should’ve kept this one anecdote under her hat just to avoid exactly what is happening now, but Meghan has shown herself to be bubbly, energetic, even a bit overeager (in a well-meaning way). Archetypes has been her “coming out party”, so to speak and of course she wants to put her best foot forward, create engaging and interesting content, and make her guests feel comfortable and welcome. I could totally see her nervous energy being the reason behind oversharing something that maybe it would’ve been better not to have. I don’t fault her for it or think less of her. It actually endears her more to me because it makes her relatable and again, humanizes her.
@Swirlmamad, ITA with your entire comment, but especially the last two sentences. Perfectly said!
C, I like your breakdown.
I am somewhere between one and two, and as we hear more from Meghan herself I’m moving more into the second group – not bc I like her any less, but just because she’s speaking up for herself and she and Harry are defending themselves in a way they couldn’t when they were royals. Like the clarification about her comment about Harry’s father.
But one of the reasons I don’t like to criticize her is because of the fourth group, once you say one thing it can quickly become this huge pile on that’s just ridiculous.
Anyway, in general, I can’t think of another celebrity whose words are picked apart the way Harry and Meghan’s are. Like what other celebrity interview have we discussed where we said “well they used this tense and then switched to this tense and given the context, what do you think she meant? Maybe we should all go back and reread it again or read one of the 100 articles written about the interview.”
sometimes I think we all just….overanalyze? Overthink? IDK. Like she made this comment, I didn’t mind it bc I knew what she meant, but I can see why others think it wasn’t the best thing to include in the interview. Overall between the podcast, the Cut interview, and her appearance on Ellen last November I feel like we’re getting a really full picture of where Meghan is NOW in her life and I love to see it.
Earlier on during the jubilee, it was in the news that someone compared the queen to Mandela. Why this grandson did not freak out and why Daily Mail did not protest.
People will say all sorts of crazy and ill advised things, but when it’s a public figure sharing a comparison of themselves to Mandela, then it becomes newsworthy. I imagine that if the Queen had shared that someone had taken her aside and told her that people in South Africa were celebrating in the streets during her jubilee just as much as they did for Mandela, then yes, it would be newsworthy and she would have been rightly heavily criticized for sharing such a comparison.
“and she would have been rightly heavily criticized for sharing such a comparison.”
The Mail covered the Cambridges’ Caribbean tour as positively as they could, which I think corresponds to Noor’s point.
I thought it was in extremely poor taste of Meghan to share that story and the comparison was offensive – even if she clarified that she realized she wasn’t a Mandela like figure, I was confused why she would even share such an analogy. I also don’t believe that the writer of that article liked her – don’t know much about the author and whether the author had a feeling about her one way or the other before meeting her. It seemed pretty clear that the author was trying to telegraph that she got disingenuous vibes from her during the meeting however – the whole first half describing her house, yard etc is very snarky. Also the descriptions of Meghan herself I don’t think we’re the most flattering – I was gobsmacked that Meghan gave her directions on describing her making “moaning” and “gutteral” sounds in response to a question – and it was certainly intentional that the author left that instruction in the piece.
That part was weird about the sounds. No way that was serious. Was she joking and what was the context? That quote about the actor saying her wedding was significant like Mandela, sounds like maybe she was trying to put some context to her time there and what her being in the royal family meant. It seems like an incomplete thought, like maybe that going through all of this had to mean something. The writer thinks it wanted her to try to be more likable. Overall the article was good but the writer had some snark and seemed a bit intimidated. Meghan doesn’t need to prove herself to these people with gift baskets or showing she helps homeless people . Her tenure as an actual working royal was brief but it has changed things, created a whole industry dependent on reporting on her, they’re still looking at everything she does and still copying her.
Yes the gift basket and pulling over to hand out the backpack during the interview was interesting. I also found the emphasis on teaching Archie manners and Meghan bringing that topic up several times throughout the interview to be interesting – I have to admit, I wondered if there was some intentional shade there in comparison to Louis at the jubilee.
The part about the sounds was definitely not serious. It’s clear to me that what happened was she asked M a question, Meghan literally sort of hummed her way through an answer and could tell the reporter paused and was trying to figure out how to take notes on it.
Does anyone seriously think M was telling the reporter to write about her moaning? It was clearly TIC.
I agree. The tone of the article was snarky with a “take-you-down-a-peg” intent. I believe it was an error in judgment to share the cringy actor story.
I sorta cringed when she made reference to that actor’s statement, but then had to remember my own reaction to her wedding. My mom & I got up and watched clips of the wedding. My friend and I both admitted, rather sheepishly, that we had gotten emotional watching her walk down the aisle. It was a big deal that this black woman was marrying into the royal family. So, I can’t dismiss what the actor said or the emotion behind it.
When I read the article I winced at that sheesh that was hard to read. Honestly she married into a racist family, there was nothing significant about it.
The father comment, the palm tree story, yikes
I wish there was more of Archie lol he seemed like such a happy kid, kudos to meghan and Harry .
I can’t wait to listen to the Mariah episode, looking forward to Issa rae and deepika padukones episode.
I probably wouldn’t have repeated this comment in an interview. This reminds me of my aunt who is always recounting the wildest flattery with guess what so and so said about me ? And honestly my aunt is a piece of work.
Mandela’s grandson, Obamas brother, MLKs niece. Interesting how the right wing press has folks like that on speed dial to come pop off when they are needed. But this just illustrates why Meghan is so cautious about saying anything, exactly like The Cut interviewer said, like she had someone whispering in her ear about what to say. Imo, Meghan should say fck you to all of these folks. After the way she has been treated, she has the right to speak her piece. She shouldn’t have to worry that racists will be offended. And frankly, this was this guy’s story, maybe where he lived people were celebrating. He didn’t say it was a national holiday just that people were excited. I saw pictures of people celebrating in Brixton, people lined the roads in Windsor, millions tuned in around the world. I’m not going to say that people were not celebrating in SA. Finally, as for people telling her what to say and not to say, the woman has been silent for practically a year and has been bashed relentlessly. When she tells a story involving her and her own child she’s called a liar and accused of exaggeration. Its madness.
See? One of Mandela’s 17 grandchildren said something negative about Meghan, too. That means the British press and the royal family must be 100% not racist!
We were not reading a transcript – the writer presented certain parts of the interaction in the way she chose to. The article was full of snark, and the writer was laughing about it on twitter.
It was definitely very snarky, I thought not very flattering portrayal of Meghan, and I would love to see the full transcript and even a documentary about the making of that article lol.
Ok, a transcript I get…you want to see if anything was taken out of context or if it was written accurately. But a documentary? Of an article? That’s crazy
If another famous person had said it, it probably would have flown under the radar but everything the Sussexes say is picked apart.
The British media is such a disgrace that even when they have a semi legitimate criticism, they cover it in such an over the top hateful manner that it turns people off.
Next week they’ll move onto something else once Archetype’s drops.
She didn’t say it, a South African actor did. Should she have recounted the anecdote? Maybe not, given how people will twist her words. But she wasn’t comparing herself to Mandela. She wasn’t comparing the celebrations of her marriage to that of Mandela’s release from prison. And even the actor probably didn’t mean to suggest it was JUST as important or joyous, either. He only meant that people celebrated openly and felt it was an important moment.
I mean, I have never been interested in the Royals. I wasn’t that interested in Diana. I didn’t watch William and Kate’s wedding. When Prince George was born, my father was staying with us while he recuperated from an accident and he kept the TV on the same news channel all day. They banged on about George incessantly for three days and it drove me bananas. Who cares?!
But when I saw Harry had gotten engaged to Meghan, I was interested. I had never watched “Suits” and didn’t know who she was, but she intrigued me, as did the relationship. I watched the TV movie. I watched the wedding. I became a fan of her and of them as a couple.
It was a big moment when she married into that family. I’m white and mostly English/Scottish, and it was big moment to me. It mattered to people, and the Firm went and ruined it.
Well it appears that the actor never said and wasn’t even at the premiere? The whole thing is turning into a debacle.
She actually spoke to a South African producer there. She’s seen speaking to him in the receiving line. I assume that’s who she meant but said actor. The squad pulled up the receipt which was filmed. The insidiousness of the British media is that everything she says is second guessed and viewed as suspect. So some one she spoke to associated with the film who told her that, but she got their job title wrong because it was 3 years ago, suddenly becomes twisted into a lie, which is unfortunate. She may approach interviews as a conversation between friends, but these journalists are not her friends.
Meghan didn’t say it was an actor. She said ‘a cast member’. A cast member of a production encompasses a lot of people-not just the ‘actors’. It involves dancers, singers, composers, musicians, etc,.. Meghan didn’t get the job title wrong. She DID NOT SPECIFY. The Others did.
I agree she should not have said that. However, isn’t one of the points of the podcast that she speak freely? When people speak freely, sometimes they say things that aren’t the wisest. Yes, I know her podcast was edited, etc. But I’d rather have someone open their heart and speak from the heart than listen to some carefully scripted, artificial nonsense. Meghan is a human being with honesty and soul, and that’s one of the reasons why people relate to her.
This is from the interview not the podcast.
It’s so interesting because a majority of people seemed to love this article and found nothing wrong with it!
But days later and seemingly prompted by endless news articles from the DF here we are with mainly British Media tearing it apart and using it to beat Meghan over the head with. Not surprisingly it seeps over into even those who say they are fans of hers. Of course everyone has a right to their opinion but I feel like a majority of people outside the UK have moved on to the Mariah Carey stuff.
There is NO ONE else out there analyzed like this except maybe Kamala Harris. But even then they mock her versus dissecting her every word.
I don’t think Meghan can win in any of these situations because even when she doesn’t speak she’s trending for some random lies again made up by the British Media. She has to be near perfect and even then they’ll analyze her voice or body language instead.
If she didn’t have her faith and a supportive group of friends/family around her I wouldn’t feel good about where all this is headed.
But I’m confident as someone who also believes in God that he’ll see her through.
But goodness what a price she has paid to marry Harry! Not many would have made it!
This part. The podcast is such a success and don’t want anything taken away from it. It is so good and helps debunking so much with having to respond to the media trolls. The podcast is resonating and being talked about in a positive way. So many great revelations and love the tone of it. So all these negative headlines centered on South Africa and how the press is trying to poison that well is distressing. I hope each week brings new conversations and this is forgotten. There’s a reason so many A-listers have their people with them during interviews and keep the focus very narrow. Don’t let the vampires past your threshold.
Does anyone know how an interview publication works? Does the interviewee review the article before publication? Could Meghan have her attorney, PR person review the write-up before publication?
Meghan does sometime over share, like the we got married three days before and this Mandela story. That’s something she needs to be mindful of. Sharing with friends is okay, perhaps not so much with the media.
I didn’t like the article, I found it an awkward read, sentence structures didn’t quite flow for me. I wonder if Meghan had a choice when it came to who wrote the article.
I don’t believe that most journalists would allow an interviewee to review an article and ask for changes or edits, no. However, I do believe that Meghan would have known ahead of time and presumably agreed to the individual that was interviewing her. I believe that M&H usually like tight control over the journalists that they give access to, so my guess would be that Meghan must have felt comfortable enough based on what she knew of this journalist that she would be treated fairly. I actually really like the article and found the writing to be pretty good – as a reader it drew me in and made me feel as of I were in the house and room. Though I do want to know more about the whole debacle with the “I lost my father in this process” being put in quotes as if a direct quote from Harry. Would love to read the transcript of the interview. The snark level was very high and I did get the certain impression that the journalist didn’t think very highly of Meghan after meeting her and was attempting to telegraph it in many of her descriptions.
So much of Mandela’s greatness is that he was able to emerge from 27 years of imprisonment without bitterness and a need to take revenge. Those years tore him apart from his wife and children yet he focused on putting the needs of the nation first.
Sussex Squad strikes again. The Squad just debunked this story. Meghan did not make that statement. Someone else did and they brought the receipts on Twitter. #DailymailLies is trending.
@BlackFemmeBot – So true. I’m sure Madiba is rolling in his grave about the behaviour of some of his grandchildren etc.
The problem wasn’t that she’s being compared to Nelson Mandela himself, but that marrying into the British royal family in 2018 is compared to a man overcoming 27 years in jail during the apartheid era in South Africa and all that entailed. I don’t know this grandson and don’t see him as an expert on Mandela just because he’s his grandson, but he does have a point that marrying into the royal family does not even come close to being equated to Mandela walking out of that prison. Furthermore, the only South African cast member of the Lion King has said he wasn’t at this event and has never met Meghan. Coupled with the aggrandizing story and the only South African cast member saying he was no way near the UK, makes this story seem very unlikely. If it did happen though, then whoever said that should have really thought twice before speaking. And honestly, Meghan should’ve done the same before repeating the quote.
“Furthermore, the only South African cast member of the Lion King has said he wasn’t at this event and has never met Meghan”
He was not the only member of the production there and this has been debunked. Do your research please.
Their article basically says that two South African men said they didn’t speak to Meghan. But I think the person who spoke to Meghan was the one who spoke to Meghan. That’s simple enough to understand. If someone told me they rejoiced at my wedding and angels danced it would make me feel good. Would I believe it? Well, I wouldn’t but I can see how it might make me feel better if my inlaws were mean and using the full force of their PR machinery against me. Also it doesn’t appear to me that Mandela jr fries has ever rolled his sleeves up to work on anything.
He stated a fact that the two events is not equal and the way he say it is not degrading in anyway.
She is human and human made error of judgment. If we her fans truly love her aren’t we suppose to help her acknowledge and own her mistake?