Palace forced to act over online abuse of Meghan and Kate

Palace aides have been forced to seek help from Instagram to tackle the vile abuse directed at Meghan and Kate online.

According to Hello! magazine, racist, sexist, and even threatening comments have been directed at the Duchesses online, with the issue becoming so large that royal aides are seeking help to learn tools on how they can tackle the abuse.

A source revealed to the publication, that while the palace has always monitored comments, it has become more and more time consuming.

“They can block certain words, but some of it is quite serious,” a source said.

“Over the course of last year, with hundreds of thousands of comments, there were two or three that were violent threats,” the source continued.

The Duchess of Sussex deactivated her social media accounts last January, but Kensington Palace have their own official accounts on Twitter and Instagram (@kensingtonroyal), which provide commentary about Meghan, Harry, William and Kate’s work.

Reports of a feud between the fab four began to emerge at the end of last year, and this appears to have fuelled the online negativity. So much so that the palace have begun to take action.

And the comments are not only directed at either Duchess. Some of the worst are apparently aimed at other fans.

“Arguments about who looks more appropriate, for example, that turn into personal attacks on other users. It’s creating a supercharged atmosphere and everyone can join in,” the source said.

The fact the palace has had to step in and take action, rings eerily similar to when Prince Harry released an unprecedented statement when his relationship with Meghan was revealed in 2016.

At the time he wrote that his girlfriend had been subjected to “a wave of abuse and harassment” and that he was “worried about Ms. Markle’s safety.”

Meghan has also found it “frustrating” that she has not been able to “stand up for herself” amid the rumours of a rift with Kate, US Insider reports.

However, during the royal tour of Australia, she told locals on Sydney’s Bondi Beach that she found it “freeing” to be off social media.

With additional reporting by Danielle Stacey.

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