Meghan Markle has made a rare acknowledgement of the “media backlash” she’s experienced in recent years.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, has been at the centre of a frenzy since her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018, with every gesture, item of clothing, and business decision scrutinised and unpicked. Her husband Prince Harry told Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that tabloid racism was a “large part” of why the couple left the country to live in California.
Analysis from Statista in 2020 showed that Markle received overwhelmingly negative media coverage with 43 per cent of articles deemed negative, 36 per cent neutral, and only 20 per cent positive.
Between 2018 and 2019, she received twice as many negative headlines as positive ones, according to data. In comparison, headlines about Markle’s sister-in-law and Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, were 47 per cent neutral, 45 per cent positive with just 8 per cent considered negative.
Comparable content, including similar outfits and holding their baby bumps, sparked diametrically opposed treatment by newspapers.
For the first episode of her new podcast Confessions of a Female Founder, Markle interviewed Bumble founder and close friend Whitney Wolfe Herd. The businesswoman unpacked the effects of online backlash following her departure from Tinder.
“When I see the way that you’ve been treated in the media, which is a magnitude I’ll never understand, my heart breaks for you. It’s not fair, and it’s brutalising,” Herd told Markle.
The Duchess agreed, saying: “Well, maybe because you understand it in whatever degree, you know how to show up for me.”
Herd then recalled an experience of walking through an Irish airport and seeing Markle on “the cover of every single magazine and newspaper”.
Recalling her surprise, Herd said: “I’m in Ireland – [you’re] back home in California doing school drop-off, [you’re] the front page of every single one of these things.”
“I know,” Markle agreed. Herd then praised her for her “ability to exist even in the presence of that”, adding: “That takes a very strong cookie.”
The Bumble founder went on to recall not leaving her house, avoiding people and feeling “humiliated”.
Speaking about their shared experience, Markle said: “We turtle” – a reference to the instinct to hide away in a shell.
The pair then shared how they overcame their challenges.
“No matter what point you’re at theres going to be a point where you’re going to take a hit and you’re going to have to decide whether you’re going to cower, or if you’re going to conquer or rise above it,” Markle said.
Markle announced plans for her new podcast shortly after the release of her Netflix cooking show With Love, Meghan. Produced by Lemonada Media, the eight-part series debuted on Tuesday morning (8 April), and will explore her experiences as an entrepreneur, as she hosts fellow female business owners.
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