Meghan Markle's Nelson Mandela Anecdote Sparks Confusion

Meghan Markle's story about a Lion King cast member comparing South Africa's reaction to her royal wedding to "when Mandela was freed from prison" has stirred up some debate.

The Duchess of Sussex said she spoke to the unnamed South African at the film's London premiere in 2019, when she had just had her son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.

There was confusion over the person's identity after John Kani, who played Rafiki, said he was the only South African in the movie's cast and had never met Markle.

However, some on social media pointed to video footage of Markle meeting South African composer Lebohang Morake, known as Lebo M, at the premiere.

Markle told The Cut, a New York magazine website, "I just had Archie. It was such a cruel chapter. I was scared to go out."

She continued: "He [the cast member] 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.'"

In her article on Markle, The Cut's writer said, "Of course, she knows she's no Mandela, but perhaps even telling me this story is a mode of defense, because if you are a symbol for all that is good and charitable, how can anybody find you objectionable, how can anybody hate you?"

Irrespective of whom Markle was referring to in her comments, Kani disputed the assessment of her wedding's impact on South Africans.

He told the MailOnline that the wedding was "no big deal," adding: "I cannot even tell you now what month she married or what year."

Lebo M. told U.K. broadsheet The Daily Telegraph: "Indeed I was at The Lion King 2019 premier and met the Royals.

"I cannot comment on the matter as it was three years ago and I don't remember details of that conversation which was less than a minute, except the Royals were going to South Africa or Botswana."

This was the latest pushback against Markle's anecdote after a grandson of Nelson Mandela suggested there was no comparison between the duchess and South Africa's first Black president.

Zwelivelile "Mandla" Mandela told the MailOnline: "Madiba'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."

A parliamentary member who belongs to the African National Congress party, Zwelivelile said Markle's marriage "to a white prince" could not be compared to the country's reaction to his grandfather's release from prison. "My advice to everyone is to live the life Nelson Mandela lived and support the causes he supported."

He continued: "That is the ultimate litmus test. What is the value of people dancing in the street and chanting President Nelson Mandela's name when what they stand for is diametrically opposed to what he stood for?

"Nelson Mandela's release from jail was the culmination of nearly 350 years of struggle in which generations of our people paid with their lives. It can never be compared to the celebration of someone's wedding," he said.

Update 09/01/22, 11:08 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include a comment from Lebo M.