Meghan Markle's pal Omid Scobie has hit out at palace aides who queried the Duchess' account of a 2019 fire in Prince Archie's nursery – which she says left her "shaken" and "in tears".
Anonymous palace aides today accused Meghan of exaggerating the incident, which she recounted for the first time in her new podcast this week.
Speaking on her Archetypes podcast, Meghan described her trauma at the fire in four-and-a-half-month old Archie's nursery in the British High Commissioner's residence while she and Prince Harry were attending a royal engagement in South Africa.
Royal sources have since quibbled over the wording, saying the incident involving a heater "smoking" at the residence rather than a fire – and didn't unfold in the way that Meghan recalls. They added that the heater was quickly "unplugged and dealt with".
Royal biographer Angela Levin went so far as to say that the Duchess' recollection of the event should be taken as an unreliable narrative, performed by an 'actress'.
Speaking on Talk TV last night Angela said the incident was: "Nasty to hear but as an actress doesn't she know the show must go on. Luckily he wasn't there but odd it was never leaked to the press."
Now Omid Scobie has spoken out in the Duchess' defence, insisting that Meghan had the right to panic after the near miss.
Writing in his weekly Yahoo! column, the Royal Commentator hit out at the critical press: "Two aides have already pushed back on Meghan's 'precise recollection' of events in South Africa – one told a tabloid that it was a smoking heater, not a fire (does it matter?) and another claimed it is 'unfair' to share such stories when the Royal Household cannot comment."
He adds: "But then this is the reality that the royal institution helped create. Uncensored and unbothered, Meghan, like Harry, has managed to create a healthier and happier existence since being shown the door after the couple’s half in, half out proposal was rejected."
Meghan told pal Serena Williams of the incident: "We finish the engagement, we get in the car and they say there's been a fire at the residence. What? There's been a fire in the baby's room.
"We came back. And, of course, as a mother, you go, 'Oh, my God, what?' Everyone's in tears, everyone's shaken. And what do we have to do? Go out and do another official engagement. I said, 'This doesn't make any sense'."
"I was like, 'Can you just tell people what happened?'," she told Serena. "And so much, I think, optically, the focus ends up being on how it looks instead of how it feels."
The duchess added: "We had to leave our baby… and even though we were being moved into another place afterwards, we still had to leave him and go do another official engagement."
"I couldn't have done that," Serena is heard replying.
Omid wrote on to say, "The two are now free to show their battle scars as and when they see fit.
"Once silenced by the establishment, it’s clear that Meghan finally has her voice back. A voice that will be very familiar to those who followed her before Harry. This time, however, she’s brought an entire movement alongside it."
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