The Meghan Effect

Last week Meghan and Harry announced they are expecting their second baby.

Almost immediately the ambush began;

• “Publicity-Shy Woman Tells 7.67 BN People: I’m Pregnant.”
• “I don’t think anyone gives a s*** about her birth plan. She really is the most self -absorbed twat around”
• This B***h can’t get enough of herself, so annoying. Meghan you’re horrible.

This is not surprising given what was said about her the first time she was pregnant

• “What a narcissist. We get it. You’re pregnant”.
• “Meghan Markle is a complete diva- Why can’t she just stand normal”
• “She is just constantly showing off and this is really disgusting and repelling

Or the first time she took Archie out in public

• “What kind of mother holds her baby like that?”
• “The Z-class actress looks messy, like she escaped from an asylum and stole a child from a park.
• “She’s dressed so “sloppily” that she could be mistaken for her sister-in-law’s nanny”

These are all comments written by social media users over the past 2 years.

Whether you like Meghan or not it’s hard to argue with the fact these are abusive and hateful statements. But why?

The medias reaction to her is unsurprising considering the couple’s decision to reduce access to them, but what about the public? All the normal people at home in their houses writing nasty comments and liking vile remarks on social media about Meghan. What excuse do they have?

Have you ever been on social media and;

• Someone posts an opinion you don’t agree with and you feel angry or feel like your opinion or experience has been invalidated.
• Come across a post where someone shares what could be considered an unsafe belief and you spiral into a place of wanting to respond to educate and correct them
• Someone you follow posts an achievement or generally has a timeline that makes them seem more happy and more successful than you. This is triggering because we feel like we’re not at that level and/or that something is wrong with us for not having those things.
• You post something and nobody likes or comments on it and it triggers a feeling of rejection or not being enough.

It is said we check our phones 80 times a day on average, that’s 80 chances to be triggered. 80 chances to feel worthless and full of resentment.

Because what if the hard truth is we are struggling internally, with our worth, our place, our purpose. We’re anxious, we’re depressed, we don’t feel good enough and we feel like everyone else is better and happier than us.

And what is about Meghan that triggers us? 

Is it because she is beautiful, confident, American, ambitious, not what we pictured, not what we want? Is it because she got the fortune, got the fame, got the boy, got the baby?  Is it because she is not sticking to royal protocol, is not best friends with Kate or because she is outspoken rather than subservient? Or is it simply because she wants to have control over her life and her public image.

Sure, that’ll do it.

In 2019 Prince Harry released a powerful statement about the “relentless bullying” made about his wife.

“My deepest fear is history repeating itself,” he said. “I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”

Let me leave you with this. What if the problem isn’t Meghan, what if it’s us?