Ndileka Mandela isn’t thrilled about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle using her grandfather Nelson Mandela’s quotes in the trailer for the Netflix documentary “Live To Lead”.
Footage of the anti-apartheid campaigner leaving prison in 1990 is also used in the clip, that was released last month.
Harry explains of the upcoming series, that has been co-produced by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, “This was inspired by Nelson Mandela.”
Quoting Mandela, Harry says, “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we’ve lived.”
Meghan finishes it off by saying, “It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”
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Ndileka has now said in an interview with The Australian newspaper that there’s “no comparison” between Harry and Meghan’s struggle with the Royal Family and her grandfather.
She shares, “That’s chalk and cheese, there is no comparison. 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,” according to the Daily Mail.
Ndileka adds, “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 says elsewhere in the interview, “Harry needs to be authentic and stick to his own story, what relevance does grandad’s life have with his?
“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 benefitting.”
This isn’t the first time one of the Mandela family has spoken about Harry and Meghan.
Zwelivelile “Mandla” Mandela previously responded to Meghan saying that an actor from South Africa pulled her aside at the 2019 “Lion King” premiere to say: “I just need you to know: When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison.”
Mandla said of his grandfather being released after serving 27 years in prison, “Madiba’s celebration was based on overcoming 350 years of colonialism with 60 years of a brutal apartheid regime in South Africa. So it cannot be equated to as the same,” the Mail Online reported back in August.
He continued, “Every day there are people who want to be Nelson Mandela, either comparing themselves with him or wanting to emulate him.
“But before people can regard themselves as Nelson Mandelas, they should be looking into the work that he did and be able to be champions and advocates of the work that he himself championed.”