Meghan says she suffered ‘hateful’ and ‘cruel’ abuse while she was pregnant
The Duchess of Sussex has revealed she received “hateful” abuse on social media while she was pregnant with both of her children, saying it was “cruel”.
Appearing on a panel at the SXSW Conference in Texas to mark International Women’s Day, Meghan was asked how she dealt with “endless toxicity” online.
The duchess said “for my wellbeing” she “keeps distance” from social media now, but added that she suffered “the bulk of the bullying and abuse I was experiencing” while she was pregnant with both Archie and Lilibet.
With Prince Harry sitting in the front row of the conference, Meghan said: “You just think about that and you have to really wrap your head around why people would be so hateful.
“It’s not catty, it’s cruel. Why you would do that?
“And certainly when you’re pregnant or as mums we know it’s such a tender and sacred time.”
Pic: Reuters
Harry watched the keynote speech from the front row. Pic: Reuters
Meghan appeared alongside actress Brooke Shields (right). Pic: Reuters
She added: “You could succumb to it, or nearly succumb to how painful that is.
“Or maybe because I was pregnant that mammalian instinct just kicks in to do everything you can to protect your child and as a result protect yourself too.”
Prince Archie was born in May 2019, while Princess Lilibet was born in California in June 2021 after the Sussexes moved to the US.
Pic: Reuters
Described by the event’s organisers as a “visionary female leader”, Meghan appeared on a panel which included actress Brooke Shields, 58.
After explaining how at the age of 11 she campaigned to get a sexist advert changed, Meghan said: “Your voice is not small, it just needs to be heard.”
The 42-year-old added: “It’s funny to look back at it now as it was before social media where you had a reach that was so much greater – it was just an 11-year-old with a pen and paper – but goes to show if you know there is something wrong and you’re using your voice to advocate for what is right, that really lands and resonates with people.”
Recalling her starring role in the 1978 film Pretty Baby, Shields joked in response: “This is one of the ways we’re different – when I was 11 I was playing a prostitute.”
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Previously, Meghan has said she was the world’s most trolled person in 2019.
In a podcast to mark World Mental Health Day, she said the impact on her health was “so damaging”.
“I wasn’t even visible, I was on maternity leave with the baby – but what was able to be manufactured and churned out, it’s almost unsurvivable, it’s so big you can’t even think what that feels like,” she said.
Irish-language rap group Kneecap have announced a surprise London show, hours after one of their members was charged with a terror offence.
Liam O’Hanna, or Liam Og O Hannaidh, was charged with displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation, at a concert in London last November, the Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday.
Just hours later, Kneecap announced on their Instagram account that “we’re back”, adding that they would perform at the 100 Club on Oxford Street, London, on Thursday night.
The post also included a quote by former Sex Pistols vocalist John Lydon, who told ITV’s Good Morning Britain the rap trio “maybe (…) need a bloody good kneecapping” after footage of the band allegedly calling for the deaths of MPs emerged.
Kneecap performing in Belfast last year. Pic: PA
Kneecap apologised to the families of murdered MPs last month, but said footage of the incident at their concert had been “exploited and weaponised”, adding that they “never supported” Hamas or Hezbollah.
The rappers had gigs cancelled after the footage emerged and politicians pushed for Kneecap to be dropped from the Glastonbury Festival line-up, with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch calling for Kneecap to be banned.
The group from Belfast in Northern Ireland is still set to headline Wide Awake Festival in south London on Friday.
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In response to O’Hanna being charged, Kneecap said that they “deny this ‘offence’ and will vehemently defend ourselves” and branded it “political policing” in a bid to “silence voices of compassion”.
The charge came after counter-terror police assessed a video said to be from a Kneecap concert.
In the footage, O’Hanna is allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, London, on 21 November last year.
Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command were made aware of a video circulating online on 22 April and an investigation led to the Crown Prosecution Service authorising the charge, the force said.
O’Hanna – who performs under the stage name Mo Chara – is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 18 June.
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