Markle told the story on the first episode of her new podcast
A TV host burst out laughing after hearing a story from Meghan Markle about her son Archie’s nursery catching fire.
The Duchess of Sussex shared the tale while speaking with tennis legend Serena Williams in the first episode of her new Spotify podcast, Archetypes.
The pair were discussing their struggles as new mothers, with Markle opening up about an incident in 2019 when her son Archie was just four-and-a-half months old.
She explained that after giving a speech at the Nyanga township in South Africa, she and husband Harry were told that there had been a fire at the nursery where Archie was being looked after.
Markle recalled that someone told her: “There’s been a fire at the residence. There’s been a fire in the baby’s room.”
She continued: “Our amazing nanny Lauren…was in floods of tears. She was supposed to put Archie down for his nap and she just said, you know what, let me go and get a snack from downstairs.”
The incident took place in South Africa in 2019 (Getty)A heater had caught fire in the room Archie was supposed to be sleeping in. Fortunately, the nanny had taken Archie with her downstairs.
But Markle spoke of how much it had shaken her up, and how difficult it was for her to then “go out and do another official engagement.”
“I said, ‘this doesn’t make any sense’, could you just tell people what happened,'” she added.
It was this that amused Australian news anchor Karl Stefanovic when he discussed the story with co-host Allison Langdon on the Today show.
He asked Langdon: “So, just to get this right, the baby is, what, not even there?”
“No… the nanny had taken the baby from the room before the fire ignited,” she replied.
Meghan Markle has released her much-anticipated podcast, promising to share a new side of her life.#9Today | WATCH LIVE 5.30am pic.twitter.com/BLlbdHW4N0
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) August 23, 2022
Voicing his bemusement, Stefanovic said: “But… so then, the baby’s not there when the fire catches, right? And because the baby wasn’t there, she was going to have difficulties going to a function? Oh, my God.”
Langdon then tries to give Markle the benefit of the doubt, pointing out that she is “new mum but Stefanovic is having none of it, laughing to himself and telling his co-host: “You are a woman who says ‘Grow a set,’ that’s what you say normally.”
Several were critical of Stefanovic for his reaction, with one user describing it as “embarrassing” and another labelling him a “misogynist.”
Fantastic podcast she’s a great woman it’s embarrassing you watching the two Australians on channel 9 Waffle on about her they are obsessed
— marcelle (@marcell31071913) August 23, 2022
Others thought the news host had a point, with one person writing: “The kid wasn’t even in the bloody room! Talk about melodrama.”
Unsurprisingly, Piers Morgan also had an opinion about the duchess’ story. He tweeted: “He [Archie] wasn’t even in the room & nobody was harmed.
“Can you imagine the Queen whining about having to do an engagement in this circumstance?
“Markle’s victimhood knows no bounds, nor does her thirst to trash the royals whilst making $$$ from them. It’s shameless & pathetic.”
Related links:
- Harry and Meghan set to visit UK next month
- You might be saying Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s daughter’s name all wrong
- Queen ‘banned Prince Harry and Meghan taking pictures of her first meeting with Lilibet’
