Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been criticized for using the name Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter came out of silence
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle get some big support
Faced with attacks, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry can count on significant support. In a long column published in the Independent, Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter came out of silence to defend the Sussexes. Ndileka Mandela accuses an Australian newspaper of having lent him comments that were not his. According to the outlet, she accused Meghan Markle and Prince Harry of “using” her grandfather’s legacy for profit with their Netflix series. “I want to set the record straight,” she wrote, explaining that she had “great” admiration for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and “their courageous commitment to defending those less privileged than themselves, vulnerable people, women and people of color”. The granddaughter of the former President of South Africa is “disappointed” by this controversy.
“I saluted the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s brilliant partnership with them on their documentary and I celebrate the inspiration that Harry and Meghan draw from my grandfather’s legacy for their social activism,” added Ndiléka Mandela, upset. that “[his] grandfather’s name was misused to attack a woman of color who was ousted from the British royal family”. In the rest of her message, she vehemently defends the detractors of the Sussexes. “The same voices that want to attack Harry and Meghan want to silence the rest of us who are still fighting for the values that my grandfather defended, writes Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter again. The British Crown is no exception to the unequal way in which the ‘rule of law’ is exercised. The post-colonial Crown is still the largest landowner in the world.”
Harry and Meghan ‘brought to light the unsavory realities’
For Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have “expanded the boundaries of acceptable discourse” by speaking sincerely and critically “of their experiences within the royal family”. “They have brought to light the unsavory realities of a beloved British institution that remains at the heart of racialized global inequalities,” said Ndiléka Mandela, a globally recognized activist. If she wanted to speak like this, it is also to send a strong message to those who criticize the parents of Archie and Lilibet: “I believe that their detractors are afraid that as their message is spread, more and more people will become aware of the persistent systemic injustices that define the way the world works today. That’s why I unequivocally support their position – and their use of my grandfather’s name.”
Meghan Markle © JLPPA
