Meghan Markle Vs Kate Middleton Fandom Battle Is Actually This Nasty

There’s a war brewing on social media, but it’s not between Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton and Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle. Rather, it’s between their respective fans, who are grouped into two opposing camps, Team Kate and Team Meghan, as well as a few online trolls who are in it purely for the chaos. These days, it has become so nasty that not only people insult each other on social media; they might even receive threats just because they belong to the other camp.

“I would kill you,” was the shocking Tumblr message received by Martina, a 17-year-old Meghan Markle fan from Argentina. The message, which came from an unknown party, even added that “the world would be better off without not only Meghan Markle, but also her fans.”

But she is already used to this kind of messages by now, and she just deletes whatever abusive or threatening messages she receives. “If you want my opinion, this fandom is toxic,” Martina said.

It is hard to point out just how and when it all started. According to Susan Kelley, founder of What Kate Wore and co-editor of What Meghan Wore websites, interest on Meghan spiked after her engagement to Prince Harry. Back then, people new to the site wanted to know more about Meghan’s style and philanthropic interests.

These days, however, Kelley notes that those discussions have died down. The reason is that people are afraid of posting anything as they’re afraid they would be jumped upon by either camp.

Kristin Contino, who runs the Royally Broke fashion-focused website that follows both women, revealed that it was Meghan who was usually targeted, a trend that eventually worsened over time. “Meghan has always received criticism, but I think the negative comments about her got much worse after she announced her pregnancy,” Contino revealed.

She also felt that some people seem to have lost their sense of propriety. “Saying you don’t like Meghan’s dress is one thing, but saying she’s faking her pregnancy or doesn’t belong in the royal family is quite another,” observed Contino.

Abusive social media posts and comments came to a point where Buckingham Palace had to intervene. To combat online trolls, the royal family released its social media community guidelines, which would be implemented on all social media accounts they manage.