Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter stormed out to Harry and Meghan, accusing them of “stealing” the statesman’s words and using his name to “make millions.”
Ndelica Mandela, 57, has slammed the Sussexes over the Netflix documentary Live To Lead, in which the pair use footage of an anti-apartheid campaigner leaving prison in 1990.
“This is inspired by Nelson Mandela,” says Harry in the trailer for their latest film, part of a $100m (£83m) deal with the streaming giant.
Ndelika said she was angry that the couple seemed to compare their own battles in the royal family to her grandfather’s long walk to freedom, calling it “disturbing and tedious”.
She said: This is chalk and cheese, there is no comparison. I know the Nelson Mandela Foundation supported the initiative, but people have stolen grandfather’s quotes for years and used his legacy because they know his name is being sold – Harry and Meghan are no different.
‘This is inspired by Nelson Mandela,’ says Harry in the trailer for their latest film, part of a $100m (£83m) deal with the streaming giant.
Ndelica Mandela (left), pictured with her sister Nandi Mandela (right) and son Lofoyo Madassa in London last month, struck the Sussex family for its use of their last name
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex meet Graca Machel, widow of the late Nelson Mandela, on the last day of their 2019 tour of Africa
She added in an interview with Australian The newspaper: ‘I admire Harry for having the confidence to break away from such a high-profile institution as the Royal Family. Grandad rebelled against an arranged marriage to find his way in life.
“But it comes at a price, you then have to fund your own life. I’ve made peace with people who use my grandfather’s name, but it’s still so annoying and boring every time that happens.”
In the trailer for Live To Lead, which was co-produced by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Harry quotes Mandela and says, “What matters in life is not just the fact that we have lived.”
Megan then appears on screen and finishes the quote: “It is the difference we make in the lives of others that will determine the significance of the lives we live.”
The pair were executive producers, according to the credits, presenting each episode, and addressing the opening credits.
Ndelika said she couldn’t believe Harry met her grandfather properly.
And with The Duke’s book Downtime next week, Ndelica cautioned: “Harry must be authentic and stick to his own story. What does Grandpa’s life have to do with his life?
“I don’t think he and Meghan met my grandfather properly, maybe when Harry was young at Buckingham Palace, but they use his quotes in the documentary to charm people and make millions without the Mandela family benefiting,” he said.
MailOnline asked a Sussexes spokesperson for comment.
It’s not the first time the couple has engaged with Mandela. Questions were raised in August about the Duchess of Sussex’s suggestion that her marriage to Prince Harry sparked jubilant celebrations in South Africa.
Megan, 41, told an American magazine that a representative from South Africa told her his country cheered on the streets as we did when [Nelson] Mandela has been released from prison.”
The interview with Meghan sparked outrage in South Africa, where Mandela’s grandson said his release from prison should not be compared to a royal wedding.
South African President Nelson Mandela and Princess Diana at the Mandela House in Cape Town, South Africa, on March 17, 1997
Nelson Mandela and his wife Winnie, walking hand in hand, raise their clenched fists upon his release from Victor Prison, Cape Town, on this Sunday, February 11, 1990
Zweliville Mandela said: ‘Madiba [Mandela’s] The celebration was based on overcoming 350 years of colonialism with 60 years of brutal apartheid in South Africa. So it cannot be equated as the same.
The hashtag VoetsekMeghan went viral on social media. Voetsek is an abusive Afrikaans word meaning “go away” or “get lost”.
Meghan insisted the encounter took place while she was attending the London premiere of the live-action version of The Lion King in 2019.
But the actor, who said he was the only South African cast member in the film, told MailOnline he was ‘baffled’ that he had never met the duchess.
Dr John Kani said Meghan’s wedding to Prince Harry was “no big deal” in South Africa and could not compare to the anti-apartheid advocate’s historic release after 27 years in prison.
The former Royal Shakespeare Company representative told MailOnline: ‘This was a world class event. Certainly not Miss Meghan or any marriage into the royal family can in any way be spoken of in the same breath or even the same sentence as that moment.
The Duchess faced an international backlash for her interview with The Cut magazine in New York, in which she said she and Prince Harry were treated differently from senior royals and felt forced to leave Britain.
She told the interviewer she was pulled off by a South African cast member at the 2019 premiere, a year after her lavish royal wedding.
Meghan said the unnamed male actor told her: ‘I just want you to know. When I married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets as we rejoiced when Mandela was released from prison.
Zwelifell ‘Mandla’ Mandela told MailOnline he was ‘surprised’ by her remarks in The Cut magazine when she claimed that three years ago a Lion King cast member told her we ‘rejoiced in the streets like we did when Mandela was released from prison’
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the premiere of “The Lion King” at Odeon Leicester Square in London on July 14, 2019.
Dr Kani, 79, said he was the only South African cast member in the film, who did not attend the London premiere.
He said the only South African involved was Lippo M, a composer who was not in the cast.
He said: ‘I’ve never met Meghan Markle. This seems like something wrong on her part.
“I am the only South African member of the cast not to have attended the London premiere… It may just be a bad memory on her part.”
Dr. Kani, who voiced the monkey shaman Rafiki in the film, said he was in Hollywood when the film opened in the US and then had to travel to shoot another film in Paris, so he couldn’t attend the London premiere.
The actor, who is a friend of Mandela, said that the moment the anti-apartheid campaigner got out of prison could not be compared to a royal wedding.
He said: He lives in our memory forever. It’s kind of like “Where were you when JFK was injured… Where were you when Nelson Mandela was released”?
You can’t really say where you were when Meghan married Harry. I am confused about this. She is an important person in her life.
I can’t even tell you now what month I got married or what year.
Dr Kani said he was “really surprised” by Meghan’s account of meeting a South African actor at the London premiere.
He told MailOnline: ‘It baffles me. I’m the only South African in the cast. I play Rafiki, Seth Rogen plays Pumbaa, Donald Glover plays Simba, and Beyoncé plays Nala.
He added: “I am really surprised by this. For me it is not an event, the whole thing.