On a tour to South Africa in 2019, the Duchess of Sussex discussed how her son’s Zimbabwean nanny only revealed as ‘Lauren’ prevented him from getting caught up in a nursery fire.
In an interview about the demands of motherhood on her brand-new podcast, Archetypes, Meghan Markle talks with Serena Williams about how she was still expected to perform in public after learning about the accident.
She claims to have recently arrived in South Africa and had to leave immediately for an engagement, leaving her son, Archie, in the care of his “wonderful nanny, Lauren” (she omits her last name), who she claims is from Zimbabwe. Prior to putting him down for a nap, Lauren fastened him to her back and went to obtain a snack from the nursery.
Meghan Markle spoke about the babysitter’s instincts for saving her son from a fire in South Africa. “She was from Zimbabwe and we loved that she would always tie him on her back with a cloth”.
The duchess claims that during that time, a heater outside in the nursery caught fire. When they returned and realized what had occurred, “Oh my God, you think as a mother. Everyone is in tears and distraught. What then were we required to do? Make another formal appearance today… Our infant had to be abandoned.”When all she wanted to do was be with Archie, the duchess hints that she had to keep up the impression that everything was alright and get on with the job.
