And we’re all very relieved.
Meghan Markle is one of the most talked about people in the world, something that has both its advantages and disadvantages.
Sure, she has the power to turn independent brands into world-renowned labels by just wearing their clothes (the Meghan Markle effect), and she gets to live in a castle and travel the globe meeting world leaders.
But on the flip side, she is a point of focus when it comes to the dreaded rumour mill and online negativity – something that Prince harry reportedly feels ‘powerless’ about when trying to protect her.
From speculation around the intimate details of her family life to racist comments, Meghan is a constant conversation topic, with the now pregnant Duchess’ baby bump proving particularly divisive.
Credit: Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock
The backlash in question has centred around her attentiveness to her baby bump, with the Duchess of Sussex seeming to hold her bump with both hands.
Attention seeking’, ‘lapping it up’ and ‘Why does she think she’s so special?’, were some of the most common remarks circling the internet after her on-stage appearance at the British Fashion Awards last year, and online comments have only got worse as her pregnancy has developed.
Meghan’s ‘popped belly button’ was overanalysed in a horrible way this month, with some users accusing the photographs of being photoshopped.
It made sense therefore when Kensington Palace responded by issuing a set of social media guidelines for their fans and followers ‘to help create a safe environment on all social media channels.’
‘We ask that anyone engaging with our social media channels shows courtesy, kindness and respect for all other members of our social media communities,’ the statement reads before listing the guidelines that user comments cannot include.
The comments must not:
– Contain spam, be defamatory of any person, deceive others, be obscene, offensive, threatening, abusive, hateful, inflammatory or promote sexually explicit material or violence.
– Promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age.
– Breach any of the terms of any of the social media platforms themselves.
– Be off-topic, irrelevant or unintelligible.
– Contain any advertising or promote any services.
Failure to comply with these rules can lead to varying consequences according to the statement.
‘We reserve the right to determine, at our discretion, whether contributions to our social media channels breach our guidelines. We reserve the right to hide or delete comments made on our channels, as well as block users who do not follow these guidelines.’
The statement continued: ‘We also reserve the right to send any comments we deem appropriate to law enforcement authorities for investigation as we feel necessary or is required by law.’
Can we all just let Meghan Markle be pregnant without constantly criticising her?
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