Dylan Bettencourt
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, revealed that baby Archie had been saved from a nursery fire in South Africa during her new podcast, Archetypes.
It happened in 2019, and Archie was saved because a Zimbabwean nanny tied him to her back and went off to find a snack.
Markle and tennis great Serena Williams were describing the pressures of being a mother and how that came with an expectation to perform despite any traumatic experiences.
Markle explained how upon arrival in South Africa she had to go directly to her engagements. Archie, then four months old, was being looked after by his “amazing nanny Lauren”.
The nanny was meant to put Archie down for a nap but she instead took him with her as she went to find something to eat.
That’s when a heater in the nursery caught fire.
“He was going to get ready to go down for his nap,” Markle said, before describing the moment she was told about her ordeal.
“We immediately went to an official engagement in this township called Nyanga, and there was this moment where I’m standing on a tree stump and I’m giving this speech to women and girls.
“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.’ What?”
The 41-year-old said she was shaken by the scene when she arrived.
“As a mother you go: ‘Oh my God.’ Everyone’s in tears, everyone’s shaken. And what did we have to do? Go out and do another official engagement… We had to leave our baby,” she said.
Markle, who is married to Prince Harry, was shedding light on how even after the incident she was made to act as if everything around her was okay when all she wanted was to be with her son.
Image source: @Elle
