Meghan Markle issued warning by royal aide after 'cyber-bullying' claims

09 March 2024 , 19:35

1083     0

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex previously quit social media due to vile trolls (Image: Getty Images)

Meghan Markle has been offered advice after sharing her experience of being bullied by trolls.

The Duchess of Sussex recently opened up about the extent of the abuse she received from vile trolls while pregnant with both her children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. During the South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) in Texas, the former actress revealed since then, she has kept her distance from social media, despite once previously loving the likes of Instagram, Twitter and her blog The Tig.

Meghan, 42, told the panel: "The bulk of the bullying and abuse that I was experiencing on social media and online was when I was pregnant with Archie and with Lili, and [when] they were born. It's really interesting because I can reflect on it, I keep my distance from [social media] right now, for my own wellbeing."

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, recently opened up about her experience with vile online trolls (AFP via Getty Images)

Now, former royal butler Grant Harold has offered advice to Prince Harry's wife following her heartbreaking admission. "Millions of people sadly get online bullying… it happens all the time," he told GB News. Harold went to say: "A lot of the members of the Royal Family do not go on social media for that very reason. So they don’t see the negative comments. There is positive but there is always negative."

Currently, the only members of The Royal Family with public social media accounts include Sarah, Duchess of York, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Lady Amelia Windsor, Lady Gabriella Kingston, Cassius and Columbus Taylor. Meanwhile, the Prince and Princess of Wales rarely use their official handles for personal posts.

Oprah Winfrey snubs Harry and Meghan as expert claims 'the tide has turned'

Grant went on to state: "Sometimes you should be rising above it. Catherine the Princess of Wales could be on social media but she doesn't talk about it." Meghan and Harry quit social media in January 2021 following a barrage of abuse after their decision to step down as senior working members of The Royal Family.

The couple previously used their Instagram account, SussexRoyal to communicate with their followers directly but on March 30, 2020, they announced that they would be taking a step back. "While you may not see us here, the work continues," they said. In a statement shared with followers, the Duke and Duchess added: "Thank you to this community - for the support, the inspiration and the shared commitment to the good in the world. We look forward to reconnecting with you soon. You've been great!

"Until then, please take good care of yourselves, and of one another. Harry and Meghan." Speaking in 2021 on World Mental Health Day, Meghan told a podcast: "I'm told that in 2019 I was the most trolled person in the entire world, male or female. Now, eight months of that I wasn't even visible, I was on maternity leave or with a baby.

"But what was able to just be manufactured and churned out, it's almost unsurvivable, that's so big, you can't think of what that feels like, because I don't care if you're 15 or 25, if people are saying things about you that aren't true, what that does to your mental and emotional health is so damaging." Harry previously said social media had helped create 'a crisis of hate, a crisis of health and a crisis of truth'.

Daniel Bird