The new Royal Social

Kensington Palace yesterday announced their new social media policy for their channels in an attempt to get rid of some of the trash in the comments. If you’ve spent any time at all online, and I’m assuming you have because you are here, I’m sure you’re familiar with the f-cksh-t that goes on in any comments section, let alone the royal one. Put it this way, if my inbox turns into toxic waste any time I post about the royals, and I’m goddamn no one, imagine what they must get. And it’s considerably worsened since Meghan Markle joined the royal family because, well, racism.  

Word is they’ve been working on this for months. There have been death threats made against both Meghan and Kate. Fans are turning on each other, getting TwiHardy about their respective duchess teams, and moderating all of it has taken up considerable staff time and energy. Not sure this will help – like any troll has ever adhered to a guideline, no matter what letterhead it’s printed on – but I guess this formally gives them licence to delete and remove and/or block, and they’re doing it ahead of the birth of Prince Harry and Royal Meghan’s baby because you know that will be a trigger for the people who do the worst. 

In other Meghan news, the Sun reported this weekend that Harry and Meghan have been making secret trips to LA to see her ma, Doria Ragland. Curiously, that link I just posted doesn’t read the way I originally saw it on my phone on Sunday. It originally looked like this – which I screenshotted because it was gross I wondered how long it would stay up for: 

The article includes details about Doria’s neighbourhood and they want you to know she lives near a Dollar Store, a McDonalds, and a cannabis dispensary. You remember a couple of years ago, when it was first revealed that Harry and Meghan were dating, and the UK papers would publish articles about how she was “Straight Outta Compton” and Doria’s dreadlocks? I guess this is their toned-down version of that but the objective is the same: to remind people – and probably Meghan too – that she, in their minds, is lower class and lower race, while protesting, if criticised, that they’re simply “describing the neighbourhood”, like those are the main distinguishing features of a neighbourhood, no harm no foul. Unfortunately the new social media policy isn’t going to help sh-t like that. 

In other Harry and Meghan news, they went to the theatre on Saturday night:

So they managed to go out without being photographed which is probably driving the British papers crazy. She goes to New York and gives up so many good shots. In London she isn’t giving them sh-t on her private, non-official duty time. A small, subtle jab back, perhaps, at the “cannabis” and “dreadlocks” references?