Has any another female royal received as much abuse from the public as Meghan Markle?

As soon as the royal wedding frenzy died down in May last year, there’s reportedly been a lot of negative press in the UK directed at Meghan Markle. And, according to Kensington Palace, the indiscriminate abuse directed at the Duchess of Sussex has been significant.

Wild debates on social media and various news outlets ensued about Meghan’s alleged accent change two months after she married and moved to the UK.

READ MORE: 4 reasons why Meghan Markle is our favourite royal

Then people had a problem with her always touching her baby bump once she revealed she was pregnant. Now the rumours of her being ‘difficult’ and feuding with the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, are persistent to the point where the royal palace had to step in.

According to reports by INSIDER, the royal staff have been monitoring comments on its Twitter and Instagram pages since launching them but in recent months had to ask social media companies for support from the platforms because the comments worsened.

In February last year The Guardian reported that the Duchess received mail of a white powder and a racist note attached to it.

READ MORE: Duchesses Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton are reportedly not getting along, but that's 100% okay

HELLO! magazine reported that the Kensington Palace staff spend hours each week moderating sexist and racist comments, not only directed at Meghan but at Kate too.

British political commentator, Ayesha Hazarika, says in an interview with CNN that Meghan faces stereotypes not only based on her gender, “if she’s a strong woman then she’s a strident woman.”

READ MORE: Meet the women behind duchesses Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton's signature styles

She adds that the Duchess also faces stereotypes based on race, such as that “she’s the angry woman”. 

CNN reports that the last royal woman to face so much criticism was Princess Diana who was often criticised for her fashion, body weight – and like Meghan – her behaviour.

Sign up to W24’s newsletters so you don't miss out on any of our hot stories and giveaways.