As members of the public joined together to mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II, social media users chose to mark the occasion in a different manner, which triggered another wave of pain for the still-grieving family.
While millions across the globe chose to honour the Queen through heartfelt tributes, it appears that the tragic event has put Meghan Markle and Queen Consort Camilla in the sights of internet trolls as the two royal ladies have become the target of relentless harassment online and false accusations.
According to The Guardian, doctored photos of the Duchess of Sussex and posts alleging Queen Elizabeth had been murdered or died from the Covid-19 vaccine have begun circulating social media platform, TikTok.
Many videos involving Camilla have called her “cowmilla” and labelled her an “evil witch”, others have accused her of being Charles’ “puppet-master”, while others have shared a montage of photos comparing Camilla to Charles’ former wife, Princess Diana in an unfavourable manner.
@luckisonyoursidex Diana will always have the peoples hearts #royals #diana #princessdiana ♬ original sound – lauren
The newly named Queen Consort had previously faced online trolling following the release of season 4 of Netflix’s drama The Crown which portrays the dramatised lives of the British Royal Family, with much of season 4 specifically highlighting Charles’ rocky marriage to Diana and his affair with Camilla.
The release of the show’s latest season seemingly created a new wave of hatred towards the couple from an entirely new generation of Princess Diana fans who proceeded to harass the royal couple through comments on their official Instagram and Twitter accounts.
The backlash from pro-Diana fans was so intense that Charles and Camilla were forced to turn off the comment section of their joint accounts.
Meanwhile, online users on TikTok and Twitter alleged that Meghan had put on an act for the cameras during the Queen’s funeral, with many claiming she had fake cried during service.
@athanchekas And the Oscar goes too… #meghanmarkle #queen ♬ Only Love Can Hurt Like This (Slowed Down Version) – Paloma Faith
@blanchecollins673 Is Meghan pregnant? #harryandmeghan #meghanmarkle #harrysbaby #royalfamily ♬ original sound – blanchecollins673
In January 2021, Meghan quit social media after facing intense attacks from both online trolls and British tabloids since first becoming involved with her now husband, Prince Harry in 2016.
Appearing on the Teenage Therapy podcast, the Duchess of Sussex described the online treatment as “almost unsurvivable”.
“I’m told that in 2019 I was the most trolled person in the entire world — male or female,” Meghan had told the show.
Meghan has since released her own podcast titled Archytypes where she addresses the “criticism” she faced during the early years of her relationship with Harry.
Though Meghan’s negative attention from social media has been a constant reoccurrence, the increased negative reaction to Camilla appears to mainly come from those in Gen Z as they primarily populate the user base of apps such as TikTok.
Despite the online backlash, polls have shown that there has been an increase in popularity of the British monarchy, with people in the Commonwealth favouring remaining a monarchy and not becoming a republic.