Meghan Markle made some rather shocking revelations earlier this week after she claimed she was compared to Nelson Mandela — and now Mandela’s grandson has hit back at her comments.
And clearly, this altercation has raised a lot of eyebrows.
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Meghan and Harry seem to have been the pillars of scrutiny against the Royal Family since stepping down from their positions last January.
Meghan and Harry said they wanted a more private life for their children, and moved to Los Angeles to live a more normal life out of the media eye.
However, many feel like the couple has truly slandered the Royal Family.
And that Harry’s relationships with his brother, father and grandparents is “hanging by a thread.”
Although, through the rifts, there were reports that the Royal Family were “delighted” by the news of the couple’s second child, Lilibet’s birth.
Despite Harry’s continuous blasting of them across all media platforms.
Harry’s relationship with his family remains strained.
With Charles apparently refusing his calls on the lead up to the announcement in 2020. Harry also said he was financially cut off from his father after they stepped down and at first they were forced to live off Diana’s inheritance.
Asked by Oprah Winfrey during their televised interview about why they left, Harry blamed a “lack of support and lack of understanding.”
He also said he wanted to get away from the ‘genetic pain’ he felt from his family, especially his father, Prince Charles.
“I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar, he knows what pain feels like, (and) Archie’s his grandson.”
“But at the same time – I will always love him – but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened and I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship. But they only know what they know, or what they’re told.”
Then, of course, following Lilibet’s birth came the controversy surrounding her name…
With one royal biographer, Angela Levin, deeming it as ‘rude.’
As we know, their baby girl was named Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
Paying tribute to Harry’s late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in 1997, when Harry was just twelve.
The name Lilibet is also a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II herself.
A family pet name, the Queen bestowed it on herself as a child as she couldn’t pronounce the name Elizabeth. The name was particularly used by the Queen’s late husband Prince Philip. It was also used by her doting father, King George VI.
But, despite the tribute, people still weren’t happy with some even accusing that, by using the Queen’s private pet name as a first name, Harry had broken royal protocol.
Harry was heavily criticized for taking such a private, intimate pet name and giving it to his child, after what some are calling an ‘onslaught of abuse’ against his grandmother and The Firm.
Royal commentator, Richard Kay, suggested that it may be a step too far for Meghan and Harry to name their daughter Lilibet.
Writing in a column for the Daily Mail, he said: “By giving the baby the name Lilibet, the Queen’s private family nickname – even though they intend to use the diminutive ‘Lili’ for their daughter – there is a risk.”
“Will it be seen as a presumptuous choice for a royal baby who is eighth in line to the throne, but who will grow up on the other side of the world speaking with an American accent?”
“It is tempting to wonder if Harry would have been so emboldened in his choice if his grandfather Prince Philip – the only close family member permitted to call the Queen ‘Lilibet’ – had still been alive.”
“Doubtless, there will be among the more cautious courtiers at the Palace some discomfort and the odd raised eyebrow at this latest convention-destroying Exocet from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
There was a mixed response to the name, with some believing that the couple were pandering to the Queen for forgiveness, whilst others thought that it was a touching tribute.
Following that, Meghan revealed in a short clip that she was asking forty friends to donate forty minutes to help mentor a woman back into work.
In a message on their Archewell website with the clip, Meghan also wrote: “In reflecting on my 40th birthday and the many things I am grateful for, I’m struck that time is among our greatest and most essential gifts.”
“Time with our loved ones, time doing the things we love, time spent learning, laughing, growing, and the sacred time we have on this earth. Amongst the most valuable gifts of time is also time spent in service to others knowing that it can contribute to incredible change.”
“To that last point, and with my 40th lap around the sun in mind, it made me wonder: what would happen if we all committed 40 minutes to helping someone else or to mentoring someone in need? And then what would happen if we asked our friends to do the same?”
“In the past two years, and in large part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, tens of millions of women around the world have left the workforce, including over 2 million women in the US.”
“So many of these women are also shouldering the brunt of the crisis when it comes to unpaid labor, including schooling and caring for family members. And the latest research shows that fewer women than men will regain work as we recover from the pandemic.”
“I believe mentorship is one way to help women regain confidence and rebuild their economic strength, and for my birthday, I have asked 40 friends, activists, athletes, artists, and world leaders to help kickoff a global effort by contributing 40 minutes of mentorship to support women re-entering the workforce.”
“With this time, I hope they each help someone advance a professional life on her own terms, and, I hope that they inspire countless others to give 40 minutes of their time as well.
“If you are able, please join us and pledge 40 minutes today in service of others in the way that feels right to you. The time that you donate can contribute to a global wave of service and set in motion meaningful impact in our own communities, and across the world.”
And not long after, the pair sparked opinions from people once again…
When the couple released their 2021 Christmas card which features the first public photo of their daughter, Lilibet.
The then-6-month-old is featured alongside the couple and her big brother, Archie and as you can imagine, many people were swooning over how adorable it is.
However, there are some people that had an issue with it as they “felt sorry” for Archie…
“Poor Archie completely ignored and they wasn’t significant enough to make them a family,” one person said.
“To be honest, that’s a little insulting to poor Archie. Sort of like until Lili came along he didn’t really matter. The photo is also all about Lili, no one is paying him any attention. Hope that’s not reflection of reality!” said another.
People have been left “feeling sorry” for Archie as they claim he looked “sad” and was being left out.
What do you think? We think the picture is adorable!
Now, though, it’s Will and Kate bagging the backlash.
The pair sent a message to Meghan Markle over social media that’s got everyone talking.
Well, Will and Kate wished Meghan a Happy Birthday…
Yes, that’s right… People are furious about it as they claim that Meghan doesn’t deserve a Happy Birthday from the Cambridges.
In other news, Meghan has used the first episode of her brand new podcast to take a swipe at the Royal Family.
During the episode, she claimed that she was forced to continue with her engagements on a tour of South Africa despite being left in tears when her son Archie narrowly escaped a fire in his bedroom.
The first episode of the podcast is titled The Misconception of Ambition.
The description reads: “Meghan talks to the one and only Serena Williams about the double standard women face when they are labeled ‘ambitious’ and the ripple effects this has on other aspects of their lives.”
Meghan started her podcast by talking about the word ambition.
And how it affected her negatively.
“And um, apparently ambition is, uh… a terrible, terrible thing, for a woman that is – according to some.
“So, since I’ve felt the negativity behind it, it’s really hard to un-feel it,” she said, as per the Daily Mail.
“I can’t unsee it, either, in the millions of girls and women who make themselves smaller – so much smaller – on a regular basis,” she added.
Further adding to the topic, Meghan spoke to tennis legend Serena Williams, who is one of her close friends, about the double standards women face when they are labeled “ambitious.”
Opening up her podcast, Meghan said she wanted to talk to somebody who “embodies the spirit of ambition.”
Serena, who announced she will be taking stepping down from tennis, was the first guest and both she and Meghan spoke about the “ambition” and “double standards” they both faced.
Meghan complained about the misconception “that if you’re an ambitious woman you have an agenda, you must be calculating or selfish or aggressive, or a climber.”
And she said that “the notion of ambition comes with many judgments and nuances — especially for women.”
“Now, look, I’m not Catholic. I wasn’t raised Catholic.
“But about one year after my letter-writing campaign, I started middle school at Immaculate Heart (in Los Angeles). I stayed there, through high school. I was there for six years. And this feminist ideology trickled down into nearly every aspect of my education,” she said.
“It’s probably safe to say into every aspect of my life. This message to me and my classmates was clear: our futures as young women were limitless. Ambition. Well, that was the whole point.
“So I don’t ever remember personally feeling the negative connotation behind the word ambitious until I started dating my now husband,” Meghan said.
In the fifty-seven-minute episode, the 2 women discussed the double standards associated with the word “ambition.”
“Often women are definitely put in these different boxes when we are ambitious, or when we do have goals or when we reach our goals, it’s a negative connotation on how we reach the goals,” Serena said.
She also spoke about the double standard she had experienced throughout her career.
Specifically, Serena referred to how her balls kept being called out, even though it was far away from the line.
Meghan responded, telling listeners that Serena was referring to the quarterfinal games in Australia in 2004 against Jennifer Capriati.
“In that match, I had this fear of hitting because every time I hit a ball, they
would call it out no matter how close it was or how far it was. And it became impossible to play because it was like they just kept calling the balls out,” Serena said.
As a result, it struck fear into Serena playing other games due to the unfair treatment she had previously received.
“So that was one of the first things that happened, and there was a plethora of things that happened after that,” she said on the podcast.
“But eventually, I remember playing in Australia years, years later, and I just didn’t have the Serena in me because I was afraid.
“I was afraid to be Serena because of all the experiences that I’ve had, and I ended up losing a match because I was afraid to challenge or to be myself,” Serena admitted.
After hearing about the incident where Archie’s nursery caught fire on Meghan’s podcast, Australian TV host, Karl Stefanovic, dared to laugh it off.
He looked at his co-host, Allison Langdon, and scoffed.
“So, just to get this right, the baby is, what, not even there?” he said.
“No… the nanny had taken the baby from the room before the fire ignited,” Langdon replied.
“But… so then, the baby’s not there when the fire catches, right? And because the baby wasn’t there, she was going to have difficulties going to a function? Oh, my God,” Stefanovic said before rolling his eyes.
Langdon, however, showed sympathy towards Meghan, and said she was a “new mom.”
But Stefanovic just made the situation worse for himself…
“You are a woman who says ‘Grow a set,’ that’s what you say normally,” he said.
In a recent interview with The Cut, Meghan explained why both she and Harry have taken the step to not share pictures of their children with the British media.
She also revealed how she broke the process of going through the Royal Family in order to share photos of themselves for the public eye.
During the interview, Meghan explained that she was allowed to join an already existing social media account, to which Harry, William, and Kate would contribute to.
She was supposed to follow the strictly established rules when it came to sharing photos publicly.
However, for Meghan, that wasn’t the case.
“There’s literally a structure by which if you want to release photos of your child, as a member of the family, you first have to give them to the Royal Rota,” she said.
For anyone wondering, the Royal Rota is the British press pool that covers the Royal Family.
Meghan asked the interviewer: “Why would I give the very people that are calling my children the n-word a photo of my child before I can share it with the people that love my child?”
“You tell me how that makes sense, and then I’ll play the game,” she added.
If you thought that was surprising wait until you hear what Meghan recently revealed…
After dropping some bombshell revelations in an interview with The Cut, Meghan has left no stone unturned.
As well as revealing the comparisons of how her life would have been if she and Harry stuck to being royals, the former actress didn’t shy away from being brutally honest about her children.
Meghan went on and said she felt she would not be able to do the school run in Britain without being hounded by the paparazzi.
And what she feared most was that it would have become a royal photo call with a press pen of forty people snapping pictures, the Daily Mail reports.
“It’s important to be thoughtful about it because — even with the Oprah interview, I was conscious of the fact that there are little girls that I meet and they’re just like, ‘Oh my God, it’s a real-life princess,'” she said.
She added that the ambitions of the little girls who look up to her are more than to marry well.
“I just look at all of them and think, ‘You have the power within you to create a life greater than any fairy tale you’ve ever read’. I don’t mean that in terms of ‘You could marry a prince one day’. I mean you can find love. You can find happiness,” she continued.
But it’s what she recalled at the 2019 London premiere of a live-action version of The Lion King that’s got everyone’s attention…
According to the Daily Mail, Meghan was pulled aside by a cast member from South Africa.
And they apparently made a surprising comment on Meghan’s marriage to Harry…
“He looked at me, and he’s just like light. He said, ‘I just need you to know: When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets,'” Meghan said as she recalled the incident.
And then she dropped the bombshell revelation…
“The same we did when Mandela was freed from prison,” they said to Meghan.
But not everybody is happy about what Meghan has said as Mandela’s grandson, Zwelivelile ‘Mandla’ Mandela, has hit back…
“Madiba’s [Nelson Mandela’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.
“It can never be compared to the celebration of someone’s wedding,” 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,” he finished.
What do you think about his comments?