LIZ JONES: I’m no Meghan fan, but this unrelenting online abuse has to stop

Like the vast majority of people in this country, I welcomed Meghan Markle to the Royal Family. I’m a big fan of Harry and I wanted him to be happy. I wrote long think pieces about the ‘Markle Sparkle’ in the run-up to their wedding in 2018. I stood up for her when others started discussing trivial issues such as reported arguments with family and staff.

My best friend, an Emmy-nominated casting director in the film industry, warned me that “actresses are crazy. They’re not real. It will all end in tears.” I refused to believe her.

I loved that Meghan rescues dogs. The sight of Guy – the beagle she adopted from a pet shelter in Canada – riding with the Queen in the backseat of a Range Rover prior to the wedding ceremony brought tears to my eyes. Aw! Finally, someone who doesn’t shoot innocent birds to smithereens will join the royal family!

I felt that Meghan’s early initiatives, such as putting together a cookbook to help the victims of the Grenfell fire, were genuine and relevant. And I’ve written loads of pieces praising her personal style: in 2019, Meghan’s crisp white shirt hands down Kate’s more mommy outfit at Wimbledon.

I felt that Meghan’s early initiatives, such as putting together a cookbook to help the victims of the Grenfell fire, were sincere and relevant

And I’ve written loads of pieces praising her personal style: in 2019, Meghan’s crisp white shirt hands down Kate’s more mommy outfit at Wimbledon.

My enthusiasm began to wane, as it does for many people, when Meghan unwisely whined that she’dnot okay’ in a TV interview later that same year. She was touring South Africa at the time, within a few hundred meters of the world’s neediest women and children. I finally washed my hands of her when she took that extravagant bow in the 2023 Harry and Meghan Netflix series, seemingly mocking the Queen. And I was furious to see Kate savaged by her fans last week while she was recovering in hospital. The Princess of Wales is the epitome of class, duty and quiet strength, and no one should be attacked while they are unwell.

But as I read the nasty online posts about Meghan in recent days in response to her and Harry’s trip to a film premiere in Jamaica, I am now convinced that Meghan was telling the truth when she said she felt she couldn’t move on can.

I was initially skeptical when Meghan revealed to Oprah Winfrey a year after leaving Britain that she had felt suicidal because of her treatment in Britain.

Wasn’t she exaggerating a bit? Diana apes? On the night she supposedly told Harry she was having suicidal thoughts, didn’t she look radiant and happy by his side in the Albert Hall?

Hmmm. I’ve felt suicidal: you’re unable to comb your hair, get off the couch, let alone wear a ball gown when you go bashing.

But if Meghan reads even a fraction of the online abuse directed at her, I wonder how she can even function. You might say don’t read it, but these barbs have a way of finding their target, by sneaking under a door. Readers sometimes print out unkind comments about me and send them to my address.

Many might say: aren’t the opinions of a few anonymous online lunatics a piece of cake? Ignore them. Continue. Sticks and stones and all that. But believe me, even things you know aren’t true written online will, over time, make you doubt yourself. I have experienced death threats, just a fraction of the number directed at Meghan. You feel sick, you’re shaking.

I finally washed my hands of her when she took that extravagant bow in the 2023 Netflix series Harry and Meghan, seemingly mocking the Queen

While Harry and Meghan were in Jamaica this week, the trolling reached a fever pitch. Photos of the couple were enlarged, annotated on social media sites, with alleged flaws circled and red arrows pointing out parts of Meghan’s face. Her face is ‘long and horse-like’. Her hands “belong to a 75-year-old witch.” The rest of the comments? Unprintable. They even discussed her two children. I refuse to give legs to those opinions by repeating them here.

Yes, Meghan has made mistakes and not everyone likes her. But the level of abuse is unlike anything I’ve encountered online, even compared to the vitriol directed at vivisectionists or pedophiles. The barrage is unrelenting.

And the could be it all ends in tragedy. This could destroy her. Meghan was right when she said she is not doing well. The rise of the anonymous, completely unbridled and unregulated troll is far more dangerous than any speeding paparazzi. It really has to stop.