On Wednesday, “Something Borrowed” author Emily Giffin took to social media to lambast the Duchess of Sussex for their recently released video marking baby Archie Harrison’s first birthday.
In the video posted on Save With Stories Instagram account, the 38-year-old former “Suits” actress read a story about “Duck! Rabbit!” with baby Archie while Prince Harry worked behind the camera to film the mother-and-son bonding moment.
Aside from celebrating Archie’s first birthday, the short video was also aimed to raise funds for the charitable organization’s effort to support food banks and mobile meal trunks that feed the hungry.
In the now-deleted Instagram post, Giffin lambasted Meghan’s attitude on the video and called the Duchess “unmaternal” and “phony.”
The 48-year-old writer also posted her text-message conversation with a friend, who seemed to be fond of discussing Meghan’s “uncomfortable” behavior in the video.
Emily’s friend suggested that Meghan was seeking too much attention when the video should be all about Archie, who was celebrating his birthday.
“That video screamed look at me! I need attention as the doting mother. She seemed slightly annoyed Archie wasn’t fully cooperating to her standards,” the friend wrote, to which Emily replied: “She seemed so unmaternal. It was uncomfortable. She’s such a phony.”
Emily captioned the said post questioning why the Duchess didn’t just film the video and let Prince Harry read for Archie. The author also asked why Meghan filmed the poor boy without pants when she was supposed to be protecting her privacy.
When Emily’s bold statement went viral on social media and she started receiving backlash from other internet users, the author switched her profile to private to avoid further humiliation.
Emily’s Apology
Later that day, the author of some best-selling novels posted a new Instagram entry apologizing for her rude words. She also denied that her comments were rooted in racism.
Emily explained that she enjoys following celebrities and is particularly interested in the British monarchy. In fact, she even wrote an essay about Meghan and Harry’s royal wedding in 2018.
She said she was happy when a biracial American woman married into the royal family, but over the past months, her admiration towards the Sussexes changed.
“But I can say from the bottom of my heart that my criticism of Meghan has never had anything to do with race,” Emily wrote.
In the end, the author apologized for how her message was received, which was not her intention.
“I can see how some of my posts may have felt mean-spirited and could be construed as having racial undertones,” Emily said. “It was not my intent, but I understand that intent and impact are two very different things. And I am truly sorry for that negative impact.”
Emily sent her apology alongside a screenshot of her previous Instagram posts showing some love for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex during their time with the royal family.