Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter speaks out on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Netflix series

Nelson Mandela’s family have compared Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to thieves after seeing their controversial Netflix doco. See why they’re so angry.

Exclusive: The granddaughter of Nelson Mandela has criticised the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for using the former South African president’s name to pull in Netflix audiences in their latest documentary.

Social activist and writer Ndileka Mandela said she admired Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for having the courage to break away from The Firm but was left “deeply upset” by them using the leader’s legacy to fund their life in California.

Speaking from Johannesburg about the couple’s seven-part Netflix documentary Live To Lead — released on New Year’s Eve and inspired by the anti-apartheid campaigner — she said the Prince needed to follow his own script.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry front a new Netflix docuseries, Live to Lead. Picture: Netflix

Prince Harry in Live to Lead. Picture: Netflix

“Harry needs to be authentic and stick to his own story, what relevance does grandad’s life have with his?” she said.

“I don’t believe he nor Meghan have ever properly met granddad, maybe when Harry was young at Buckingham Palace, but they are using his quotations in the documentary to draw in people and make millions without the Mandela family benefiting.

“I know the Nelson Mandela Foundation has supported the initiative but people have stolen grandfather’s quotes for years and have used his legacy because they know his name sells – Harry and Meghan are no different from them.

“I admire Harry for having the confidence to break away from an institution as iconic as the royal family. Grandad rebelled against an arranged marriage to find his own path in life.

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

Ndileka Mandela, granddaughter of Nelson Mandela.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela and granddaughter Ndileka Mandela.

During a visit in 2015, Prince Harry told the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory: “I was fortunate enough to meet Madiba a number of years ago and I have treasured that memory ever since.”

The exiled royals have enjoyed a blockbuster $100 million start to their new careers.

Before the release of Live To Lead, which profiled seven “leaders” as defined and picked by the couple, Netflix content creators chronicled their exit from the Royal family in Harry & Meghan, which was the most-watched documentary in the streamer’s history.

In the six-episode series, rolled out in two instalments, the couple criticised the monarchy and British media, claiming palace aides were prepared to lie to protect Prince William but not them.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on their wedding day. Picture: Netflix

The Duke also accused the publishers of the UK’s Mail on Sunday of causing his wife to miscarry.

Among those profiled in Live to Lead, which was produced in collaboration with Nelson Mandela Foundation, were the late Mandela, the late US Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Gen Z environmental activist Greta Thunberg.

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern agreed to be interviewed years ago by the foundation “producing resources for future leaders, with the focus on young leaders”. She recently tweeted the first she knew of her being drawn into the Sussexes project was when Netflix released the trailer for Live to Lead, which launched on Sunday.

A documentary called Heart Of Invictus, about the Duke’s Invictus Games, is due for release next year.

Live to Lead comes ahead of the publication of the Duke’s memoir Spare on January 10.

The Duchess of Sussex claimed in a recent interview a South African cast member from The Lion King’s 2019 production had told her the nation celebrated her wedding just like they did Mandela’s release from jail in 2013.

Ms Mandela, 57, head of the Thembekile Mandela Foundation, said the apartheid hero’s release from jail was “the culmination of nearly 350 years of struggle in which generations of our people paid with their lives (and) their (Prime Harry and Ms Markle’s) marriage can never be compared to the celebration of grandad’s release.”

“That’s chalk and cheese, there is no comparison,” she said.