Royal family releases social media guidelines in the wake of Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton online abuse
Due to Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton being subjected to sexist and racist comments on social media over the last few months, the British royal family has issued social media guidelines to 'help create a safe environment on all social media channels.' Anyone who posts obscene or offensive content will be blocked or even possibly reported to police.
Meghan Markle was under no pressure to copy her alleged royal rival Kate Middleton.
While the world expected the 37-year-old to deliver her firstborn at the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital and introduce the newborn to the world in front of cameras, Markle and her husband, Britain’s Prince Harry, are keeping the arrival of baby Sussex under wraps.
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“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very grateful for the goodwill they have received from people throughout the United Kingdom and around the world as they prepare to welcome their baby,” Kensington Palace previously announced in a statement.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have received hundreds of gifts. (Getty Images)
“Their Royal Highnesses have taken a personal decision to keep the plans around the arrival of their baby private. The Duke and Duchess look forward to sharing the exciting news with everyone once they have had an opportunity to celebrate privately as a new family.”
It’s a big change from how Middleton, 37, and her husband Prince William handled the births of their three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
After each delivery, the Duchess of Cambridge posed and waved with the couple’s newborn outside of Lindo Wing in London. Middleton’s sister, Pippa Middleton, also selected the Lindo Wing for the birth of her first child.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. (Getty)
“People are delighted that Meghan is doing things differently,” royal author Ingrid Seward told People magazine Wednesday. “She was under no pressure to do things the same.”
The British writer, who is also editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, has been covering the royals since the 1980s and has written over 20 books on the subject. Seward said that while Markle hasn’t publicly shared where she will give birth, it’s very unlikely she will choose St. Mary’s Hospital.
“It is completely understandable,” said Seward. “The Lindo Wing has become too much of a circus.”
Lindo Wing has been the preferred choice for several British royals. Princess Anne was the first in 1977, followed by the late Princess Diana and then Middleton. However, Lindo Wing would also be impractical for Markle and Harry, 34, as they recently moved 25 miles away from London for quieter, private pastures.
Meghan Markle and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attend the first annual Royal Foundation Forum held at Aviva on Feb. 28, 2018 in London, England. (Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
The magazine shared Markle and Harry might skip the hospital altogether and prefer a more royal tradition — a home birth.
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Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, was born at the London home of her maternal grandparents. She also welcomed all four of her children at home.
Royal expert Katie Nicholl recently told Fox News that she isn’t surprised Markle and Harry are ditching Lindo Wing.
Actress-turned-royal Meghan Markle captivated the world when she married Prince Harry in May. (AP)
Nicholl, a royal correspondent for Vanity Fair, recently published “Harry and Meghan: Life, Loss, and Love,” which presents an in-depth look at the couple and how their high-profile romance is forever changing the monarchy. It features interviews with friends close to the couple, those who have worked with Harry, as well as palace aides, among others.
“It doesn’t surprise me their plans are very different from the Duchess of Cambridge [Kate Middleton] or even his mother, Princess Diana,” Nicholl told Fox News. “The couple has been doing things very differently, so it’s to be expected we’re not going to get the same carefully stage-managed pictures of the new threesome outside the hospital.”
While previous reports speculated that Markle wanted to avoid the highly publicized royal baby reveals, Nicholl said it was Harry who might have come up with the idea.
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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in Fiji in October 2018 (Getty)
“Harry is quite a different character than his brother,” she explained. “He is incredibly protective of Meghan. I think he’s going to be even more protective of their first-born. He’s wary of the media. And it’s no secret that he doesn’t like being in the spotlight all the time as a royal.”
Nicholl shared she believed Harry was also the mastermind behind the couple’s move from Kensington Palace where his older brother William reside with Middleton, to Frogmore Cottage, a house on the grounds of Windsor Estate.
Markle and Harry married in a chapel on the Windsor Castle grounds in May 2018.
The move means that William and Harry will no longer be living in close proximity to each other now that Harry is starting his own family.
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend a service marking the centenary of WW1 armistice at Westminster Abbey on November 11, 2018 in London, England. The armistice ending the First World War between the Allies and Germany was signed at Compiègne, France on eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month - 11am on the 11th November 1918. This day is commemorated as Remembrance Day with special attention being paid for this year?s centenary. (Paul Grover- WPA Pool/Getty Images)
“The couple sees this as their home for life,” said Nicholl. “They love Windsor and what better way to start their family life in Windsor than to have their baby in Windsor?”
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Markle and Harry are due to welcome their first child sometime this spring.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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