Security source CONFIRMS Meghan Markle claim of fire in Archie's nursery, told to 'keep it quiet'
LONDON, UK: An alleged security source appears to have backed up Meghan Markle's claims that a fire broke out in her son Archie's nursery during their 2019 trip to South Africa.
The insider, who is said to be close to the Duchess of Sussex and was part of her security detail during the 10-day tour in 2019, said he personally witnessed the "severely melted" heater. The source said Meghan, 41, was informed that there had been a "fire" and that her vehicle "broke away" from the security convoy. He added that the heater fire at the official accommodation provided by the British High Commission was never reported after British police told them to "keep it quiet."
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Speaking to The Citizen, the source offered the first confirmation that a fire had indeed broken out as claimed by Meghan in her new podcast 'Archetypes' after the British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office refused to comment on the claims. The insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Meghan was "scared" when she exited her security vehicle and "bolted" to the official residence "like every mother would" fearing for her baby's well-being. However, the source couldn't confirm whether Archie was in the room or he was downstairs as has been claimed.
Meghan Markle Reveals She Had to Continue Africa Tour Despite a Fire Breaking Out in Archie's Room pic.twitter.com/g3bWiscsO8
— People (@people) August 23, 2022
The insider said he was part of a small team tasked with taking care of the Sussexes, but mostly helped escort Meghan between the official guest residence and her royal engagements. He said the security plan changed as the convoy was returning from an official visit. "I'm not sure if we came from Nyanga or Monwabisi but there was an event," the source told The Citizen. "We were driving in convoy and all of a sudden the convoy with Meghan broke away. We followed after. We weren't sure what was going on. The Prince was on his way to a thing with the navy. When we stopped at the residence I can tell you that she didn't get out of the car like a lady that normally gets out but she bolted into the house."
The source said he was shown the faulty heater after he went inside himself. "When we got to the house the house-keeper called me and showed me the heater that was burnt and told me what happened and said the child was not in the room at the time the heater burnt," he continued. "She said they smelled it, went up, and saw the smoke. The house didn't burn, the room didn't burn. I didn't see the fire but I saw the heater when it came out of the room. The plastic was severely melted."
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The insider said he couldn't say if Archie's life was in danger or not when the fire broke out, but noted that it was a new heater that had recently been purchased to keep the child warm. "The fire was not reported. When we were outside we discussed what we were going to do about this," he explained. "The consensus was 'guys this is gonna look bad for us or South Africa or whoever.' The British police guys actually told us 'guys just leave it as it is, don't talk about this,' so we decided not to expose this thing. That's why we kept quiet back then because we knew we were going to get a backlash." He said Harry and Meghan subsequently decided they could no longer live in that residence. "We immediately moved out of that house to a second place not five minutes away from where we were stationed but none of us were told where they were staying after the fire," the source added.