April 20, 2026
Meghan’s “Most Trolled” Claim Sparks Debate as Critics Pile On
Meghan Markle says she was “the most trolled person in the entire world” for a decade, framing her remarks as a warning about the dangers of social media during a youth mental health visit in Australia. The claim quickly drew pushback, including from Senator Ted Cruz, who suggested President Donald Trump may hold that distinction instead. Meanwhile, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert raised eyebrows after responding to a question about “King George” rather than King Charles.
Back in the UK press, opinion writers are sharply divided. Some see a rare moment of candour from the Duchess, while others dismiss the Sussexes’ Australia visit as self-serving, with comparisons drawn to Sarah Ferguson and criticism of what’s being called a commercialised royal brand.
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Ah calorogus, shark media that low and welcome to Palace Intrigue.
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I am your host, Mark Francis. In Australia, Megan Michael
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opened up about the impact of social media on her life.
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Speaking during a visit to a youth mental health group,
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the duchess said, for now ten years, every day, for
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ten years, I have been bullied and attacked, and I
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was the most trolled person in the entire world. Now
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I'm still here. She made the remarks while discussing the
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precious young people face online, drawing on her own experience
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to underline the scale and persistence of the criticism she
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says she has endured. Megan has also argued that the
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problem is structural, saying social media companies are not incentivized
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to stop and describe the online environment as that billion
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dollar industry that has completely anchored and predicated on cruelty
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to get clicks. Her comments were framed as a message
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of resilience, encouraging those in the room recognize the nature
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of the online world and to be stronger than it.
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The remarks have since drawn wider attention, with debate focusing
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on her claim of being the most trolled person as
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the conversation around public figures and online abuse continues. Senator
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Ted Cruz weighed in, saying, oh, I don't know about that,
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before adding oh, I'd probably say Donald Trump. He pointed
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to the sustained level of criticism directed at the President
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over the years, suggesting that level of attention exceeds what
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Megan has experienced. Cruz also struck a moralaxed tone about
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online criticism, more broadly saying if it's funny, I laugh
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at him and adding that he absolutely enjoys responding in
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kind on occasion. Meanwhile, Republican Congresswoman laurent And Bobert we
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was speaking to reporters about the visit when she appeared
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to respond to a question referencing King George rather than
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the current monarch. Asked whether it would be appropriate for
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King George to meet with members of Congress, Bobert replied,
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seventeen seventy six. I have nothing to do with King
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George or the royal family. I'm an American first. Bobert
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later doubled down on social media, writing, the only King
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George I recognize already got expelled from this place. Barring
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an unforeseen double catastrophe, it will be King Charles, not
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King George, who visits the United States next week. In
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the case of the unthinkable, we imagine twelve year old
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King George would reschedule. In The Independent, Victoria Rhodes writes,
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Megan Michael doesn't exactly make it easy to like her,
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does she. The Duchess of Sussex, is ambitious, ruthless, and
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when she so chooses, carefully and competitively tradwife too. One minute,
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she's making us all feel inferior by donning an apron
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to make her signature jam before laying out pressed flower
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Garland necklaces. The next she is laying into her in
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laws and extended family and allegedly arguing with TV execs.
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She's a sort of shape shifting, smiling enigma, and enigmas
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when you're not quite sure what's really behind the facade
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can be hard to like. He's looking at you, Malania Trump. Yeah,
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this week, Megan might have won me over just hell
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Wells since Harry sounded incredibly sincere when he talked about
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losing his mother, Princess Diana at a leadership summit in Melbourne.
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The Duke of Sussex revealed he felt lost, betrayed or
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completely powerless, and said that experiencing grief as a kid
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while in a goldfish bowl under constant surveillance can break you.
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Meghan spoke out about her experiences of living life through
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a lens, too, and to be honest, it sounded completely horrific.
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That's because the Duchess, while no Princess Diana, who was
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after all, adored all over the world, known for her kindness,
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her dedication to charity and to her family. Though it
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was interesting that the memory of her lingered so palpably behind.
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Both Megan and Harry's speeches dropped the smoke and mirrors
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and for a brief moment allowed a moment of rare
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candor to shine through, and in doing so she got
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me right in the feels. She may not have helped
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herself along the way, for the kind of self agrandizing
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self promotion that has become so synonymous with Meghan's brand
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can be hard to swallow, but she has been the
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most trolled person in the entire world for an entire decade,
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and that intense, deer in the headlights style scrutiny is
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identical in many ways to the way Princess Diana was
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also treated her husband the boy who watched his mother
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targeted by the press and then lose her life can
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see it, and so can we. He was perfectly right
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to worry about history repeating itself. In The Daily Mail,
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Jan Moyer writes, Megan says she was bullied online every
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day for ten years and became the most trolled person
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in the entire world, while Harry says being a father
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affected his mental health so much that he was almost
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on the floor, curled up in a fetal position because
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his wife grew life and he couldn't what Maybe he
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should have paid a bit more attention in biology class.
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Now he's going on about upgrading his children and downgrading
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his own father, while presenting himself as an eternal casualty
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in the ongoing battle Royale with himself. Welcome to the
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Victim Tour the Big Downer down Under, in which two
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of the most privileged people on Earth traps around Australia
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are having a moan about their rotten luck. If this
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trip is a sign post to the future, the Royal
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family must have been looking on in utter horror their
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worst pearl clutching fears. Imagine centuries on old soft power
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is brazenly being used to boost hard commerce for personal gain,
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not to mention being crushed and bruised at how pathetically
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low the Sussex bar is now set. Perhaps one day
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Harry and Meghan will learn that you can't demand to
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be taken seriously, you have to earn it. As they
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head back to California to take more photographs of the
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backs of their children's heads to post online, they might
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want to think about that more palat In just a moment.
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In The Express, Chris Richards writes, Megan Mark would just
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got really desperate. He's turning into Sarah Ferguson. There are
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stacks of incredible role models Megan mikel would love to
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be compared to, but wealth, luxury and celebrity obsessed Sarah
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Ferguson is not one of them. As Megan and Prince
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Harry continue to cash in on their Sussex titles during
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their commercial tour down Under, one person who would be
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impressed is Fergie. Since in nineteen ninety six divorce from
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Andrew mount Batten Windsor, Sarah Ferguson has conjured a whole
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range of business deals to try that mostly fail to
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keep her in the lifestyle she desires At one stage,
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Fergie was piling on the pounds sterling with a reported
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one million pounds a year deal with Weight Watchers, while
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she also penned children's books like Budgy the Little Helicopter.
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Fergi was a brand ambassador for Pegas's Group holdings failed
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soul of Powered crypto mining firm, earning over two hundred
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thousand pounds, and in two thousand and nine, her lifestyle
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and wellness firm Heart and Wore, collapsed while over six
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hundred and thirty thousand pounds in debt. Then in twenty ten,
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the infamous cash for access scandal followed when she was
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filmed accepting fifteen thousand pounds to facilitate access to Prince Andrew.
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Some claim Fergie was the first modern royal to aggressively
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monetize her title after stepping back from duties. But now
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with Megan, we could have Fergie two point zero. Fergie
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once appeared on instantly forgettable reality shows like a horse
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dancing competition called Dancing with Horses and her own mini
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series Finding Sarah from Royalty to the Real World twenty eleven. Similarly,
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Megan has already had her own now canceled lifestyle show
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with Love Megan on Netflix and while down on Australia,
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she has appeared on Master Chef to promote her brands.
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Fergie has her the Dutchess Collection lifestyle brand with tea
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and biscuits, while Meghan has her as Ever firm, churning
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up fruit spreads, honey tea and scented candles. All this
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is straight out of the Fergie playbook, so expect more
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lucrative tours across the globe, dropping in on primetime TV
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shows and flogging their wares. There was a time when
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Harry and Meghan were lecturing the world of a kindness,
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prejudice and the danger of powerful institutions. Now they are
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blending their royal links into charity work and serious money making.
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Fergie would be impressed, and they have it. Don't to
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email us addresses the Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com.
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Please follow us on your favorite podcast app II Mark
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Francis My thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue
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and good terms
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00:07:47.720 --> 00:07:48.920
