The British monarchy had to implement a 21st century solution to a very antiquated problem. CNN reports that the royal family has released a set of social media guidelines in response to the frequent online abuse targeted at Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex.
"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, posted on the royal family's website, reads.
These guidelines include the barring of "discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age" and mandates that comments cannot "contain spam, be defamatory of any person, deceive others, be obscene, offensive, threatening, abusive, hateful, inflammatory or promote sexually explicit material or violence."
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Basically, the Queen is going to start blocking any haters that come for her family (okay, maybe the Queen's assistant/corgi).
While the statement doesn't specifically call out the abuse lobbied against the duchesses, the palace reportedly reached out to social media firms back in January for support combatting this specific issue, directly asking both Twitter and Instagram for help.
In addition to this abuse, Markle and Middleton have also been the subject of vicious rumours, with a prevailing narrative being that the sisters-in-law are constantly feuding. That, plus other rumours that Markle is "difficult" to work with, have basically made the internet a war zone when it comes to royal goings-on. Luckily, the duchesses are likely too busy with their travels and other royal duties to comb through Instagram comments, but now at least fans won't bear witness to the abuse either.
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