Meghan Markle’s ‘nursery fire’ claim disputed

Meghan Markle’s version of events about how her son’s nursery caught on fire and he narrowly escaped serious injury has been brought into question.

Meghan Markle has been accused of hamming up a story about her son having escaped serious injury in a fire when he was a baby on a royal family visit to South Africa.

Archie, then four months old, was not in his nursery in a Cape Town housing unit when a fire broke out in the room – but the incident left the Duchess of Sussex “shaken” and “in tears”, she told tennis star Serena Williams in her new podcast.

The Sussexes had dropped their son off for a sleep straight after flying in for the royal visit to attend their first engagement when the incident occurred in September 2019, she said.

“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.” Ms Markle said.

Meghan Markle has taken a swipe at royal life in the first episode of her new podcast with Prince Harry.

Ms Markle explained that she was then allegedly forced by royal aides to attend an official engagement.

“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’.”

Ms Markle said Archie had been taken out of the room by his then nanny when “someone happened to just smell smoke down the hallway, went in, fire extinguished”.

The royal couple with their son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, in 2019. Picture: AFP

“He was supposed to be sleeping in there,” she added.

But, following the release of the episode, some people familiar with the incident have reportedly said they do not remember there actually being a fire, recalling instead that the heater was smoking then simply unplugged, according to the Daily Mail.

Nearly two years after signing an exclusive podcast deal with audio giant Spotify, the “Archetypes” series from Prince Harry and Ms Markle’s Archewell Audio debuted on the service on Tuesday.

Meghan Markle during their royal tour of South Africa on September 23, 2019. Picture: AFP

According to an earlier press release, the podcast series intends to “investigate the labels that try to hold women back”.

Speaking with historians and experts, Meghan will “uncover the origin of these stereotypes and have uncensored conversations with women who know all too well how these typecasts shape narratives”.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle visit the sitting volleyball section of the fifth edition of the Invictus Games in The Hague on April 17, 2022. Picture: AFP

“This is how we talk about women: the words that raise our girls, and how the media reflects women back to us … but where do these stereotypes come from? And how do they keep showing up and defining our lives?” Ms Markle asked in an audio teaser released in March.

Next week’s episode will feature a conversation with Mariah Carey, according to Spotify.

In addition to the couple’s deal with Spotify, Archewell Productions has an exclusive deal with Netflix.

Ms Markle and Prince Harry officially quit their royal roles in February 2021, four months before daughter Lilibet, now one, was born.

The family of four now lives in Montecito, California.

Originally published as Meghan Markle’s ‘nursery fire’ claim disputed