I was compared to Nelson Mandela, says Meghan Markle in bombshell interview
MEGHAN revels in being compared to South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela in a toe-curling magazine interview.
She recalled a moment when she attended The Lion King in London’s West End in 2019.
Meghan said a cast member from South Africa told her they had celebrated when she tied the knot with Prince Harry.
She revealed: “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.’ ”
The Duchess of Sussex, 41, was speaking to US mag The Cut in a bombshell interview in which she claimed Harry told her “I lost my dad” during their bitter Megxit split from the Royal Family.
And she further suggested it was Harry’s decision to stay apart from his father.
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Referring to her relationship with her estranged father Thomas Markle and the furore over Megxit, Meghan said: “Harry said to me, ‘I lost my dad in this process.’
“It doesn’t have to be the same for them as it was for me, but that’s his decision.”
Prince Charles, 73, was said to be saddened by the quote last night.
In further evidence of the deep division in the family it also emerged that Harry and Meghan won’t see him, the Queen or William and Kate when they come to the UK next week.
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The Sussexes — who are arriving on Monday — are not expected to travel to Balmoral to see Her Majesty unless a dispute over security is resolved.
It is also understood there are no plans for Harry to see Charles — who will also be in Scotland — or the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who move to their new home in Windsor next week.
Harry claims he and his family are not safe to visit the UK without security guards and are still waiting for a Home Office panel to rule on whether they qualify for Met police protection.
‘Precious moments’
His biographer Angela Levin told The Sun: “The royal residence of Balmoral is one of the safest places in the world so the idea that a lack of security would stop Harry visiting is ridiculous.
“These are precious moments he could be spending with his grandmother.”
Last night Sun columnist Piers Morgan slammed Meghan’s comments.
He said: “Even by Markle standards, this is a revoltingly self- aggrandising, disingenuous and hypocritical load of royal-bashing tosh.
“The Mandela anecdote alone had me gagging.
“How dare she use her title to keep trashing the institution that gave it to her? Shameless and shameful.”
Hours after the interview was published, Omid Scobie, regarded as the couple’s official mouthpiece, said there had been “confusion”.
He wrote: “I understand that Prince Harry is actually referring to Meghan’s loss of her own father, and Meghan is saying she doesn’t want Harry to lose his.”
The publishers refused to comment on the “confusion” last night but a source close to the magazine insisted this line was a direct quote from the interview.
Buckingham Palace also refused to comment.
Meghan — whose interview marked the launch of her Spotify podcast Archetypes — claimed she was “happy” to leave the UK because “just by existing, we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy” of the Royal Family.
‘Forgiveness is really important’
When asked if forgiveness was possible after the couple left the Firm in 2020, the Duchess said she had “made an active effort”.
She added: “I think forgiveness is really important. It takes a lot more energy to not forgive.
“But it takes a lot of effort to forgive. I’ve really made an active effort, especially knowing that I can say anything.
“I have a lot to say until I don’t. Do you like that? Sometimes, as they say, the silent part is still part of the song.”
She added: “I can talk about my whole experience and make a choice not to.”
Prince Harry has been vocal about his difficult relationship with Charles — previously telling US talk show queen Oprah Winfrey that his father had stopped taking his calls and cut him off financially after he stepped down as a senior member of the Royal Family.
The mag chat took place at the couple’s £11.5million mansion in Montecito, California.
The Cut’s Allison P. David wrote that they work from “two plush club chairs placed side by side behind a single desk, facing into the room like thrones”.
The Duke is quoted as saying: “Most people that I know and many of my family, they aren’t able to work and live together.”
Meghan revealed she plans to relaunch her own Instagram page after a five-year absence and denied the couple — who have children, Archie, three, and one-year-old Lilibet — were planning a reality TV show.
But she hinted they were working with US film director Liz Garbus on a “historical documentary” about her and Harry’s “love story”.
5 'face palm' quotes
HERE are five of the most cringeworthy moments from Meghan’s toe-curling interview.
- They bought the Montecito mansion after spotting two palm trees joined together. Harry said, “My love, it’s us”. When Archie goes past them he says “Hi, Momma. Hi, Papa.”
- Meghan compared her and Harry to salt and pepper because they “always move together”.
- When Meghan and Archie get back from nursery, Harry comes out to meet them and starts dancing to his own beatboxing, with Meghan joining in.
- Meghan referred to her and Harry’s business as a “start-up”, despite their multimillion Netflix and Spotify deals
- The piece makes a point of revealing handy Harry once fixed pal Victoria Jackson’s sprinkler.
On not getting any clear guidance on being a working royal, Meghan said: “I was an actress.
“My entire job was ‘Tell me where to stand. Tell me what to say. Tell me how to say it. Tell me what to wear, and I’ll do it’.
“And I’ll show up early, and I’ll probably bake something for the crew.
“Yeah. That would’ve been really helpful. That would’ve been a very key tutorial to have had in advance of all this.”
Meghan also denied that they were planning a reality TV show but hinted that they were working with Liz Garbus on a “historical documentary” about her and Harry’s “love story”.
She said: “I don’t read any press. So I don’t know what’s confirmed. I will tell you Liz Garbus is incredible. Liz Garbus also worked on Pearl.”
She added: “When the media has shaped the story around you, it’s really nice to be able to tell your own story.”
In another insight into family life, Meghan reveals she has been teaching three-year-old Archie about the importance of manners.
Referring to the phrase ‘salt and pepper are always passed together’, she said: “You never move one without the other.
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“That’s me and Harry. We’re like salt and pepper. We always move together.”
The extensive interview comes after she revealed in her new podcast last week that she had “felt the negativity” of being labelled “ambitious” after joining the Firm.
Ingrid Seward: 'She can be economical with truth'
By Ingrid Seward, Royal expert
MEGHAN is economical with the truth when it suits her.
It appears to me that neither she nor Harry are prepared to accept the blame for anything.
Harry sees his father as much as someone who lives 5,000 miles away sees their father.
I don’t think he sees him for very long when he does because his father is a very busy man.
But Prince Charles, left with Harry, will always be there for him.
If Harry and Meghan wanted to visit the Queen, Charles, or Prince William, they could easily make time.
There are no similarities at all between the situation with Meghan and Thomas Markle and Prince Harry and Prince Charles.
It’s obvious she never understood Prince Philip’s dictum that it is not a popularity contest but it’s about working together for the good of the monarchy.