Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter accuses Harry and Meghan of ‘stealing his words to make millions’

Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter today attacked Harry and Meghan, accusing them of “stealing” the statesman’s words and “making millions” with his name.

Ndileka Mandela, 57, has blasted the Sussexes for their Netflix documentary Live To Lead, in which the couple uses footage of the anti-apartheid activist leaving prison in 1990.

Harry says in the trailer for her latest film, which is part of her $100m (£83m) deal with the streaming giant: “This was inspired by Nelson Mandela”.

Ndileka said she was angry that the couple was comparing their own struggles in the royal family to their grandfather’s long journey to freedom, calling it “annoying and boring”.

She said: “That’s chalk and cheese, there’s no comparison. I know the Nelson Mandela Foundation supported the initiative, but for years people have stolen grandfather’s quotes and used his legacy because they know his name sells – Harry and Meghan are no different than them.”

Harry says in the trailer for her latest film, which is part of her $100m (£83m) deal with the streaming giant: “This was inspired by Nelson Mandela.”

Ndileka Mandela (left), pictured with Luvuyo Madasa and her sister Nandi Mandela in London last month, has hammered the Sussexes for their use of the Mandela name

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex meet Graca Machel, widow of the late Nelson Mandela, on the final day of their 2019 trip to Africa

She added in an interview with the Australian newspaper: “I admire Harry for having the confidence to break away from an institution as iconic as the royal family. Grandpa rebelled against an arranged marriage to find his own way in life.

“But it comes at a price, you then have to finance your own life. I’ve made peace with people using Grandpa’s name, but it’s still deeply annoying and tiring every time it happens.”

In the trailer for Live To Lead, co-produced by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Harry quotes the activist as saying, “What matters in life isn’t the mere fact that we’ve lived”.

Meghan then appears on screen, finishing the quote: “It’s the difference we’ve made to the lives of others that determines the meaning of the lives we lead.”

The couple were both executive producers, according to the credits, and introduced each of the episodes and spoke about the opening credits.

Ndileka has said that she doesn’t think Harry met her grandfather correctly.

And with Harry’s book ‘Spare’ coming out next week, Ndileka warned: ‘Harry needs to be authentic and stick to his own story, what meaning does grandpa’s life have in his?

“I don’t think he or Meghan ever really met Grandpa, maybe when Harry was young at Buckingham Palace, but they use his quotes in the documentary to draw people in and make millions with no benefit to the Mandela family.”

MailOnline has reached out to a spokesman for the Sussexes for comment.

It’s not the couple’s first encounter with the Mandelas. Questions were raised in August over the Duchess of Sussex’s claim that her marriage to Prince Harry sparked jubilant celebrations in South Africa.

Meghan, 41, told a US magazine a South African actor told her his country was just as happy on the streets as it was then [Nelson] Mandela was freed from prison”.

The interview with Meghan sparked fury in South Africa, where Mandela’s grandson said his release from prison was nothing like a royal wedding.

South African President Nelson Mandela and Princess Diana at Mandela’s home in Cape Town, South Africa on March 17, 1997

Nelson Mandela and his wife Winnie walk hand in hand and clench their fists on his release from Victor Prison in Cape Town this Sunday 11 February 1990

Zwelivelile Mandela said: “Madiba’s (Mandela’s) celebration was based on the overcoming of 350 years of colonialism with 60 years of brutal apartheid regime in South Africa. So it cannot be equated.’

The hashtag VoetsekMeghan was trending on social media. Voetsek is an obnoxious Afrikaans word meaning “to go away” or “to get lost”.

Meghan insisted the encounter happened while attending the London premiere of the live-action version of The Lion King in 2019.

But one actor, who says he’s the only South African cast member in the film, told MailOnline he’s “baffled” because he’s never met the Duchess.

dr John Kani said Meghan’s marriage to Prince Harry was “no big deal” in South Africa and couldn’t compare to the anti-apartheid activist’s landmark release after 27 years in prison.

The former Royal Shakespeare Company actor told MailOnline: “It was a world event. Certainly Miss Meghan or whatever is marrying into royalty can in no case be spoken in the same breath or even in the same sentence as at this moment.

The Duchess faced international backlash over her interview with The Cut magazine in New York, in which she said she and Prince Harry were being treated differently to other senior royals and felt compelled to leave Britain. She told the interviewer that she was pulled aside by a South African cast member at the London premiere of the live-action version of The Lion King in 2019, a year after her lavish royal wedding.

Meghan said the unnamed male actor told her: “I just want you to know. When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets as much as when Mandela was released from prison.’

Zwelivelile ‘Mandla’ Mandela told MailOnline he was ‘surprised’ by her comments in The Cut magazine when she claimed three years ago a ‘The Lion King’ cast member told her that ‘we meet on the streets just as happy as when Mandela was freed from prison’

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend the premiere of The Lion King at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on July 14, 2019

dr Kani, 79, said he was the only South African cast member in the film and did not attend the London premiere.

He said the only other South African involved was Lebo M, a composer who was not in the cast.

He said: “I’ve never met Meghan Markle. That seems to be a faux pas on her part.

“I’m the only South African member of the cast and I didn’t attend the London premiere… It could just be a false memory on their part.”

dr Kani, who voiced the ape shaman Rafiki in the film, said he was in Hollywood when the film opened in the US and then had to travel to France immediately as he was shooting another film in Paris, so he was able to not attend the London premiere. The actor, a friend of Mr Mandela, said the moment the anti-apartheid activist was released from prison could not be compared to a royal wedding.

He said: “It lives forever in our memories for the world. It’s kind of where were you when JFK was shot… where were you when Nelson Mandela was released?

“You can’t really tell where you were when Meghan married Harry. I’m confused about this. She is an important person in her own life.

“I can’t even tell you now what month she got married or what year.”

dr Kani said he was “really surprised” by Meghan’s account of her encounter with a South African actor at the London premiere.

He told MailOnline: “It confuses me. I’m the only South African in the cast. I play Rafiki, Seth Rogen plays Pumbaa, Donald Glover plays Simba, and Beyonce plays Nala.”

He added: “I’m really surprised by this. For me it’s a non-event, the whole thing.”