#VoetsekMeghan: Meghan Markle slammed for insulting South Africa with Archie’s nursery fire story

'This woman is a special case, Harry is in big trouble he needs our prayers #VoetsekMeghan,' a user tweeted

UPDATED AUG 27, 2022

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and their baby son Archie were on a tour of South Africa in 2019 when the child's nursery caught fire (Toby Melville /Getty Images)

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA: South Africans slammed Meghan Markle after she spoke about a horrifying experience she had while on a royal tour of the country in her podcast. During the first episode of her podcast 'Archetypes', the 41-year-old told tennis star Serena Williams that when she went to Africa with Prince Harry and their son Archie in 2019, a fire erupted in the little one’s room.

According to People, Meghan said, “When we went on our tour to South Africa, we landed with Archie. He was going to get ready to go down for his nap. We immediately went to an official engagement in this township called Nyanga, and there was this moment where I'm standing on a tree stump and I'm giving this speech to women and girls, and 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.' What?”

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Lauding Archie’s nanny, Lauren, the Duchess of Sussex said, "She was supposed to put Archie down for his nap, and she just said, 'You know what? Let me just go get a snack downstairs.' And she was from Zimbabwe, and we loved that she would always tie him on her, her back with a mud cloth, and her instinct was like, 'Let me just bring him with me before I put him down.' In that amount of time that she went downstairs, the heater in the nursery caught on fire,” before mentioning, "He was supposed to be sleeping in there."

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, pose with their newborn son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor during a photocall in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle on May 8, 2019 in Windsor, England. The Duchess of Sussex gave birth at 05:26 on Monday 06 May, 2019. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool/Getty Images) — Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and their son Archie had recently gone to South Africa when the incident about the nursery catching fire was reported (Dominic Lipinski/Getty Images)

Meghan said that despite this, she and Harry went for another official work. "I was like, 'Can you just tell people what happened?' And so much, I think, optically. The focus ends up being on how it looks instead of how it feels," she added.

Though many understood Meghan’s point of view and also empathized with her, the people of South Africa did not seem to as “#VoetsekMeghan" - which loosely means “go away” Meghan - started trending. A user tweeted, "I was convinced by her acting on Oprah interview. Now after lying about South Africa I withdraw my sympathy and anger against the British media and Royal family. This woman is a special case. Harry is in big trouble he needs our prayers #VoetsekMeghan."

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive at the Creative Industries and Business Reception at the British High Commissioners residence to meet with representatives of the British and South African business communities, including local youth entrepreneurs, on day ten of their tour in Africa on October 2, 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski - Pool/Getty Images) — Prince Harry and Meghan went on with their official duties despite the incicent, as per the Duchess of Sussex (Dominic Lipinski/Getty Images)

I was convinced by her acting on Oprah interview now after lying about South Africa i withdraw my sympathy and anger against the British media and Royal family. This woman is a special case Harry is in big trouble he needs our prayers #VoetsekMeghan
— Raymond Segodi (@rsegodi) August 26, 2022

Haibo! Mzansi is this the “housing unit” Meghan Markle is talking about in Cape Town? 🙄 Can we launch a probe? She is giving us a bad name. #VoetsekMeghan #MeghanMarkIsEntitled pic.twitter.com/vvrvevkSz7
— Justine Fairground ✨❤️ (@JustineFairgro1) August 26, 2022

Meghan Markle doesn't care how she portrays South Africa, she must never step foot here ever again.#VoetsekMeghan pic.twitter.com/c8OLKkZepe
— Lulama Anderson🇿🇦 (@LulamaAnderson) August 26, 2022

The second one wrote, "Haibo (goodness me)! Mzansi is this the “housing unit” Meghan Markle is talking about in Cape Town? 🙄 Can we launch a probe? She is giving us a bad name. #VoetsekMeghan #MeghanMarkIsEntitled.” “Meghan Markle doesn't care how she portrays South Africa, she must never step foot here ever again. #VoetsekMeghan,” a third user shared.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Patron of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) visits the University of Johannesburg on October 1, 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Tim Rooke - Pool/Getty Images) — Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Patron of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) visits the University of Johannesburg on October 1, 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa (Tim Rooke/Getty Images)

People like Meghan Markle making it seem like going to South Africa was the bravest thing she has done because SA is an uninhabitable place which almost took her son’s life. All the time she is lying and was coddled in a Cape Town mansion. She must truly fokof. #VoetsekMeghan pic.twitter.com/Tmm7QoSIcX
— Gogo Ghosty 🇿🇦 (@beauchamp_lord) August 26, 2022

South Africa 🇿🇦... You're amazing - the #VoetsekMeghan tag is brilliant. She's single handedly offending the world country by country! Shame really when most of her fanbase is in SA...oopsie! 😂
— Fi 🌸🐾 (@Fibutton) August 26, 2022

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex meets with with 7 weeks old Sumeya as she visits mothers2mothers during her royal tour of South Africa with Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex on September 25, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa. mothers2mothers (m2m) is an African not-for-profit organisation with the vision of a healthy, HIV-free Africa. The organisation trains and employs women living with HIV as frontline health workers across eight African nations. (Photo by Paul Edwards - Pool/Getty Images) — Meghan, Duchess of Sussex meets with 7-week-old Sumeya as she visits mothers2mothers during her royal tour of South Africa with Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex on September 25, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa (Paul Edwards/Getty Images)

A fourth said, “People like Meghan Markle making it seem like going to South Africa was the bravest thing she has done because SA is an uninhabitable place which almost took her son’s life. All the time she is lying and was coddled in a Cape Town mansion. She must truly fokof. #VoetsekMeghan.” “South Africa 🇿🇦... You're amazing - the #VoetsekMeghan tag is brilliant. She's single handedly offending the world country by country! Shame really when most of her fanbase is in SA...oopsie! 😂” a tweet added.