‘The One and Only’ Author Emily Giffin Drags Meghan Markle on Archie’s Birthday: She’s ‘a Phony’

Putting her on blast. Emily Giffin is speaking out about her issues with Meghan Markle, dragging the former Duchess of Sussex on her son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor’s birthday.

The One and Only author began her tirade against the mother of one by posting a screengrab of the celebratory message posted by the Kensington Palace official page on May 6. “Wishing Archie a very happy first birthday today!” it read, alongside a photo of Archie, Meghan and Prince Harry, as well as prominent members of the British royal family.

Giffin, 48, called it a “pointed photo choice” on her Instagram Stories, following Meghan and Harry’s decision to “step back” as senior members of the brood in January.

The writer also threw shade after watching a video showing the Suits alum, 38, reading Duck! Rabbit! to her baby boy, sharing a text message conversation she had with a friend about the clip. Giffin said Meghan was “such a phony” and seemed “so unmaternal.” When the other person claimed Meghan was an actress playing a part, she replied “poorly.”

“Happy birthday, Archie. Go away, Meghan,” Giffin also captioned another screengrab of the video. She continued to blast Meghan under a post shared by the Instagram account What Meghan Wants, also showing the clip of the star reading to her son.

“Adorable child and book. But … Holy ‘me first.’ This is the Meghan show,” she claimed, pondering why the star didn’t “film” and let Harry do the reading. “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.”

Giffin theorized Meghan wanted the attention that clip would bring. “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,” she concluded.

Some fans have tweeted about Giffin’s change of heart, retweeting her 2017 post where she was “over the moon” for the couple following news of their engagement.

After immense fan backlash, the Something Borrowed author changed her Instagram and Twitter accounts to private. She went public again a few hours later with a heartfelt apology. “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.” Emily went on to explain that she was once a big fan of Meghan’s, even hosting a royal wedding party, but eventually felt that Harry and Meghan “changed.”

“I can say from the bottom of my heart that my criticism of Meghan has never had anything to do with her race,” she continued, clapping back at fan theories that Meghan’s ethnicity was her reason for shading her. “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.”