Meghan's friend defends her after sharing 'innocent' story from high school

One of Meghan Markle's old high school friends has defended the duchess after sharing an "innocent" story from their teen years.

Nema Vand, who stars in Bravo's Shahs of Sunset, recalled spending time with Meghan at a party when they were teenagers on a podcast with comedian Kate Casey, recounting how the royal "sat on his lap".

Now he's claiming the story he shared was taken out of context and used to "paint Meghan as a villain".

Vand and Meghan attended neighbouring high schools in California, and the 37-year-old recalled how the duchess flirted with him at a party when he was just 16.

 "She knew what she was doing. She toyed with our hearts masterfully," he said on the podcast.

"We were at a party one time and she sat on my lap. She got nose-to-nose with me. For a 16-year-old guy, that is an emotional moment."

Recalling how Meghan called him "beautiful" in Farsi, telling Vand that she picked up the language from him before slipping away.

"If you want to scramble a 16-year-old brain, she knew what she was doing. We all adored her," he added.

However, his story was later taken out of context on social media, critics holding onto the suggestion that Meghan "toyed" with boys' hearts in her teen years. The story was also picked up by several tabloids.

A frustrated Vand has since come out to defend the duchess, taking to Twitter to set the record straight about what he calls an "innocent" story.

"Let me be perfectly clear: Meghan Markle was one of the kindest people I remember from high school," he wrote.

"Watching certain publications twist a really sweet and innocent story is absurd. I've never known Meghan to be anything but kind-hearted to EVERYONE.

"Meghan always treated me and everyone around me with total kindness and respect. Can't believe people would turn such a fun adolescent moment into an opportunity to paint her into some kind of villain. She was the literal opposite of that."

Royal fans rallied in the comments section, praising Vand for standing by his old friend and defending the duchess from "vilification" and "trolling".

One tweeted in response: "Thank for speaking out! We are EXHAUSTED by vilification, hate, and lies about Meghan!"

Since joining the royal family in 2016, the Duchess of Sussex has faced regular criticism in the media and online, the negative press widely considered one of the factors in her and Prince Harry's decision to leave the monarchy.

The Sussexes are currently engaged in legal proceedings against a number of British tabloids, fighting back against what they call "vilification" by the British media.