Meghan Markle’s recent comments in her latest interview where she discussed a time she was compared to the late Nelson Mandela have received some serious backlash, the newest source coming from Mandela’s grandson.
The Duchess of Sussex was talking to New York magazine in an interview published this week when she shared how her matrimony to Prince Harry provoked joyous cheers all the way in South Africa. Markle described meeting a South African cast member while in attendance of the live-action version of “The Lion King’s London” which premiered back in 2019.
The 41-year-old told the magazine the actor compared South Africa’s excitement at her wedding to Prince Harry with the release of Nelson Mandela from prison back in 1990.
Markle recounted, “He looked at me and he’s just like, he said, ‘I just need you to know, when you married into this family [the royal family], we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison.’”
The South African actor was referring to Mandela’s release after serving over 27 years in prison after leading a movement to end South African apartheid.
The comparison has not gone over well with many individuals, one being Mandela’s very own grandson Zwelivelile ‘Mandla’ Mandela. The Chief of the South Africa’s Mvezo Tribe told Mail Online his grandfather’s accomplishments, “Can never be compared to the celebrations of someone’s wedding.”
The 48-year-old said, “Madiba’s celebration was based on overcoming 350 years of colonialism with 60 years of brutal apartheid regime in South Africa. So it cannot be equated to as the same.”
He continued, “Every day there are people who want to be Nelson Mandela, either comparing themselves with him or wanting to emulate him.”
The Mail wrote, “Zwelivelile said when the people of South Africa expressed their joy at his grandfather’s release and danced in the streets, it was for a far more important and serious reason than her marriage ‘to a white prince.’”
Meghan Markle has yet to respond to Zwelivelile’s criticism.
