'Mandela' remarks and claims of press pack on school run: Row erupts after Meghan's latest statements in US interview

30 August 2022, 09:35 | Updated: 30 August 2022, 10:19

Meghan Markle has once again come under fire after she made a series of extraordinary claims in a fresh US interview.

The former royal said she wanted to protect her son from a press pen of 40 on the school run and said she was told by a Lion King cast member that her joining the royal family was celebrated like Nelson Mandela being freed.

It came ahead of the launch of her "unfiltered" podcast - Archetypes - in which the duchess has warned that listeners "should expect the real me".

But her comments sparked criticism from people who say she has "no self-awareness". US publication Page Six quoted a ‘highly placed royal insider,’ who said: “Right now the family are all at Balmoral, and I’m sure they are aghast at this interview.”

Speaking to The Cut, Meghan recalled being approached by an actor at the Lion King premiere in London.

"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 the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison'," she said.

Read more: 'We upset the hierarchy just by existing': Meghan Markle hits out at Royal Family

Read more: Prince Harry and Meghan 'unlikely to visit Queen' during whirlwind UK trip amid ongoing security row

However, the latest revelations on her life with Prince Harry sparked an angry reaction: "That Meghan would compare herself to Mr. Mandela in any way is ludicrous and sad."

Another person tweeted: "What has Meghan Markle been doing since she left the royal family? Every time she opens her mouth it is to bad mouth them and LIE!It was so bad she is now comparing herself to Nelson Mandela!

"She needs to MOVE ON and leave the RF alone!"

Meghan also took aim at the media during the interview, saying she wanted to protect Archie from the British press, claiming if he had gone to school in the UK, he would have face a press pen at school pick-up every day.

"Sorry, I have a problem with that," she said.

"That doesn’t make me obsessed with privacy. That makes me a strong and good parent protecting my child."

But some criticised her hypocrisy for complaining before taking the interviewer with her to pick up Archie.

One Twitter user said: "Meghan moaned that in the U.K. there would be a press pen of 40 people hounding her during school runs (even [though] there are laws against that) yet... SHE BRINGS A JOURNALIST WITH HER TO DO A SCHOOL RUN TO PICK UP ARCHIE. Her hypocrisy & delusion is staggering."

Another person tweeted: "Royal children have been going to school for years without press pens waiting outside for them, I'm confused why Meghan would think that would change with Archie and why she said it in an interview when it does not happen."

The Duchess was also critical of images of her children being shared out by media outlets before she could post them herself as part of the 'Royal Rota' structure.

"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?" she asked.

"You tell me how that makes sense and then I'll play that game."

One person tweeted: "I read a lot of the British press and I never saw one article or reporter etc ever call the Sussex children (or Meghan) the n-word."

Someone else simply asked: "Where is the proof?"

She is also quoted in the interview as saying: “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.”

Her comment was widely interpreted as meaning that Harry felt he had ‘lost’ his father because of the fallout.

But ally to the couple and royal reporter Omid Scobie said: “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.”

However, others were quick to come to the former royal's defence.

One person said: "Meghan is right.. and I said it at the time.

"Why would you share your child's photo for all those racists haters."

A second Twitter user said: "I love Meghan Markle!! She is intelligent, beautiful, strong, and she is the real Queen out of that family after Princess Diana."

A third person said: "If there's two people I admire in the world it's Nelson Mandela and Meghan Markle."

A fourth tweeter added: "I bet everybody who hates Meghan Markle wouldn't hate her at all if she was as white as Kate Middleton."

Harry and Meghan stepped down as working royals in January 2020 following their controversial move to California.

They are set to return to the UK next month for the first time since the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in June.

However, it is understood that the couple are unlikely to visit the Queen on their upcoming trip, which will see them attend the One Young World Summit and Well Child Awards.