Emily Giffin, author of Something Borrowed and woman with numerous opinions about Meghan Markle, is attempting to walk back the comments she recently made about a video of Meghan reading to baby Archie. The video was posted online to celebrate Archie's first birthday.
Emily originally wrote:
“Adorable child and book. But …. 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… also, you want privacy for your child so you put out a video (by your authorized biographer) of him … wearing no pants?! Ooookay….”
The worst part: Emily put all of this on her then-public Instagram account. As one might expect, people had big reactions, and most of them were not in agreement with Emily. But today, Emily attempted to walk back her comments and explain what she meant.
In a follow-up post, Emily wrote: "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."
"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. 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 her 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. And I am truly sorry for that negative impact."
While it's great that Emily is attempting to make amends, it's a little too late to cry "that wasn't how I meant it!" This is especially true since this is hardly the first time Emily has made these kinds of comments about Harry, Meghan, and the way they are living their lives.
To be fair, Harry and Meghan are public figures who can always expect to receive some degree of blowback over their choices and decisions. But they have also taken clear steps to distance themselves from the overwhelming specter of royalty and celebrity.
Fans of Meghan and Harry are still pretty furious, though. One woman wrote "#MeghanMarkle was bullied every single day of her pregnancy, harassed after she gave birth, and expected to be a performing circus act for the British Royals and press. It's a miracle she delivered a healthy child and they don't deserve to exploit that innocent child."
Others have said that this isn't the first time the author has done something like this. One woman wrote, "I was a fan of her books so I started to follow her on insta! Quickly unfollowed after her constant bashing of people! She’s vile and needs to get a life!"
In the end, it is always a positive thing for someone to apologize when they have unleashed a torrent of negativity like Emily put out into the world. It's also never a great thing to bully anyone, even a member of the royal family. Here's hoping Emily uses this as an opportunity to move forward and grow.
