Meghan Markle and The Misery Olympics

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past couple of years, you’ll probably have seen the negative coverage the Duchess of Sussex has received. The snide articles and commentary surrounding everything she has done has been horrifying to read. The racial and misogynistic undertones are hard to ignore.

Damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t, it often seems that anything Meghan does provokes criticism from the media. From she’s too media hungry to she’s hiding away with her baby – how dare she! She’s condemned for her charity work and then is criticised for being too lazy. All this while trying to adjust to life in a new country as a newly wed and a new mum.

Kate Middleton seems to be the media’s darling and can do no wrong. I like the Duchess of Cambridge but it does throw up the question why is the undisguised vitriol aimed solely at Meghan? Is it because she was successful in her own right prior to Prince Harry? Is it her humanitarian work? Is it her passion and enthusiasm? Or is it simply because of the colour of her skin? I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

Racism in football has been hitting the headlines recently and the media and public, quite rightly, are demanding it to be stopped. And yet when it’s the root cause of the targeting and bullying of a new mum she is expected to shrug it off. “She has servants for goodness sake, surely she can handle a bit of lighthearted racism?!” It reeks of bitterness and misogyny.

In my opinion she has handled the transition to royal life with dignity and class, while shining a light on causes that desperately need more media attention.

There has been a clip circulating on social media from tonight’s ITV documentary with Tom Bradby where Meghan discusses the challenges of becoming a new mum. You can clearly see the struggle to reign in her emotions and quite honestly it’s heart breaking to watch.

Becoming a new mum is one of the hardest transitional phases a woman can go through in her life. Yes it’s a blessing, yes it can be amazing but those early days, weeks and months are an amalgamation of hormones, new emotions and self doubts. Am I doing this right? Why am I crying again? Why is the baby crying again?! It can also be a really lonely and isolating time.

Rather than empathy from fellow parents, rather than offering kindness and support, the media have basically mocked her every step of the way. Some of the comments following the release of the above video have been equally disheartening. Apparently because she is in a privileged position she shouldn’t be allowed to struggle. What about single mums? They have it harder. What about parents on the poverty line. They have it harder. It goes on and on.

THIS IS NOT THE MISERY OLYMPICS!

It isn’t a competition. One person’s sadness does not negate someone else’s. It is possible to have empathy for anyone struggling, regardless of their social standing. You would honestly hope, in an age of increased mental health awareness, that people would realise that anxiety and depression (including post natal depression) do not discriminate. It doesn’t matter how many servants you have, or how big your house is. Anyone can struggle.

I’m hoping that Meghan sees the outpouring of love that has been across Twitter these week, including the hashtag #WeloveyouMeghan. The fact that nobody has been asking her if she’s ok is so disappointing so hopefully she’ll see at least some of the messages of support.

We can also hope the media trolls will back off and allow her to adjust to motherhood.

We shall see.