Britain’s Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has claimed she was the victim of “hateful” online bullying while she was pregnant with both of her children, highlighting the toxicity and inhumanity of the internet and from some media.

Meghan married King Charles’ second son Harry in 2018 and the couple have two children, Archie, 4, and Lilybet, 2.

“The amount of bullying and abuse I experienced on social media and online when I was pregnant with Archie and Lily, and with a newborn,” Meghan said yesterday during an event at SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

“You just think about all this and really try to understand why people could be so hateful… In cyberspace and in some areas of the media, we’ve forgotten our humanity and that has to change.”

Harry and Meghan have spoken openly about the difficulties they faced as members of the British royal family, particularly after stepping back from their royal duties and moving to California, a decision Harry said was made to protect his family.

Meghan’s appearance comes at a difficult time for the royal family after Charles was diagnosed with cancer and Kate, the wife of Harry’s older brother William, is recovering from surgery.