Author Emily Giffin is speaking out about some disparaging comments she made about the Duchess of Sussex’s recent video celebrating baby Archie’s first birthday.
In the video — which was posted on Instagram to raise money for charity Save the Children UK — Markle reads a children’s book to her son, whom she shares with Prince Harry.
Considering the intent of the video was to raise money in support of children being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, many people were enchanted by adorable video.
Not Emily Giffin, however. Author of such novels as All We Ever Wanted and Something Borrowed, Giffin took issue with Markle, and proceeded to tear into the royal on her Instagram Stories.
RELATED: Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Share Adorable Video Of Archie To Celebrate His 1st Birthday
First, she posted a still from the video, writing “Happy birthday, Archie. Go away, Megan,” misspelling Markle’s name.
She then shared a screenshot of a comment she’d written. “Holy ‘me first.’ This is the Megan show. Why didn’t she film and let Harry read? And why didn’t she take the moment at the end to say ‘he said daddy!’ Because that would make it about Harry for a split second, God forbid,” she wrote.
“Also, you want privacy for your child so you put out a video (by your authorized biographer) of him …. wearing no pants?! Ooookay ….” she added.
She followed that with screenshots of texts, referring to Markle as “phony” and “unmaternal,” claiming that Markle was merely an actress who was “poorly” playing the role of a mother.
Twitter was appalled, with numerous people sharing their dismay over Giffin’s nasty comments about such a sweet and well-intentioned video, with some even calling for a boycott of her books.
Giffin responded to the backlash in a statement she gave to HuffPost, which she originally shared on her Instagram page (which she took private after the uproar).
“I enjoy following celebrities and analyzing them with my readers. I post dozens of IG stories a day in a very honest, unfiltered way, as if I’m confiding directly with close friends. Further, I’m very interested in the British monarchy. I always have been. See the link in my bio for an essay I wrote in the days before Meghan and Harry wed,” she wrote.
“To be clear, I absolutely loved that a biracial, American woman was marrying into the Royal Family. It seemed a wonderful, happy thing for everyone. I celebrated their wedding by hosting a gathering here at my home and posting many, many photos. Further, I was appalled by any signs of racism against her,” Giffin continued.
“Over recent months my feelings about BOTH Harry and Meghan changed. But I can say from the bottom of my heart that my criticism of Meghan has never had anything to do with race. Further, I understood why she wanted to leave the monarchy and carve out her own path. I do, however, find fault with the way BOTH she and Harry handled things, and those feelings bled over in later posts, including the ones today. I can see how some of my posts may have felt mean-spirited, and could be construed as having racial undertones. It was not my intent, but I understand that intent and impact are two very different things,” she concluded. “And I am truly sorry for that negative impact.”
