Fact check: The Duchess of Sussex was in Colombia during most of film festival

A series of claims have been made about the Duchess of Sussex and whether she attended this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival.

One of the claims states that during an acceptance speech for an award American actress Meg Ryan launched a “merciless diatribe” at Meghan.

Another claim says that Ryan rejected Meghan’s attempt to take a photo together on the red carpet.

A third claim states that Jovan Marjanovic, who is the director of the festival, told Meghan to leave the stage during the festival’s opening ceremony and was “broadcast live”.

Evaluation

There does not appear to be any evidence that these events took place, nor any evidence that the duchess was in Sarajevo for the festival. Meghan was in Colombia on a documented visit during much of the film festival, including the opening ceremony on August 16.

A video of Meg Ryan’s acceptance speech and footage of the When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got Mail actress from the red carpet before she was given the honour do not support the claims.

The facts

Meg Ryan was given the Heart of Sarajevo award at the festival in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina on August 20. A video of her acceptance speech shows she made no reference to Meghan.

One video contains a statement that footage of Ryan’s speech with the alleged attack on Meghan “went viral”, and yet it does not include this film to  illustrate the accusations.

Clips of Ryan on the red carpet have been edited, so part of the event may be missing but there are no separate clips of Meghan at the same event, which would be expected if such a high-profile figure was in attendance.

Meanwhile, the opening ceremony – where it is claimed the duchess was blocked from getting onto the stage – was held on August 16. At the time Meghan was in Colombia for a four-day South American trip which started on August 15.

It is unclear if Meghan has ever been at the Sarajevo Film Festival. A Google search for “Meghan Markle Sarajevo Film Festival” only seems to yield results that are similar to the claims above, and none of these appear to come from any mainstream media sources.

Several reputable news outlets covered the festival, including Ryan’s award, but none mentioned Meghan.

A library of photos from international picture agency Getty Images taken at the festival does not include any images of the duchess.

Some of the videos appear to refer to the Sarajevo Film Festival as the Saro Film Festival. A Google search for “Saro Film Festival” only appears to lead to these claims about the Duchess of Sussex.

Links

First claim ( archived page and audio )

Second claim ( archived page and audio )

Third claim ( archived )

Google search

Meg Ryan acceptance speech ( archived page and audio )

Video of Meg Ryan on red carpet ( archived page and video )

Second video of Meg Ryan on red carpet ( archived page and video )

SFF – Maja Izetbegovic hosts the opening ceremony of the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival ( archived )

The Independent – Harry and Meghan’s tour of Colombia ‘squandered public money’, says local councilman

Newsweek – Meg Ryan makes rare red carpet appearance after Taylor Swift comment

Getty Images photo library (archived page 1 and page 2 )

Reuters – Meg Ryan honoured for achievement by Sarajevo Film Festival

Google search for “Saro Film Festival”