Meghan Markle Sinister Death Threat Goes Viral

The Duchess of Sussex's distressing account of receiving death threats and the mental impact they create has gone viral after footage from the royal's Netflix docuseries resurfaced on the social media site TikTok.

Meghan has been vocal about the impact of online hate in her years as a member of the royal family, both as it relates to herself and to others. In 2023, the duchess and Prince Harry hosted a parents forum through their Archewell charitable foundation, exploring mental wellness among young people in the digital age.

In 2020, the duchess reflected on the news that she was one of the public figures who received the most online hate worldwide. During an appearance on the Teenager Therapy podcast hosted by Californian high school students, Meghan said social media was a "great way to connect," but added that "it also ends up being a place where there's a lot of disconnection, you know, I can speak personally to."

"I'm told that in 2019 I was the most trolled person in the entire world, male or female," she explained.

Uploaded to TikTok by user @megsmarkle on April 9, footage of the duchess discussing the types of threat she experiences has gone viral. The clip was taken from the Harry & Meghan Netlfix docuseries that aired in December 2022.

The video opens with Meghan giving an example of a tweet posted about her, which read: "'Meghan just needs to die. Someone needs to kill her. Maybe it should be me.'"

"That's what's actually out there in the world because of people creating hate," she said.

"I'm a mom. It's my real life. You know? And that's the piece where you see it and you go: 'You are making people want to kill me. It's not just a tabloid. It's not just some story. You are making me scared.'"

Meghan explained that the online threats directed towards her made her fear not only for her own safety but also for the safety of her two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

"That night, to be up and down in the middle of the night looking down my hallway like, 'Are we safe? Are the doors locked? Is security on?' That's real! 'Are my babies safe?' And you created it for what? Because you're bored or because it sells your papers or it makes you feel better about your own life? It's real what you're doing," she said in tears.

The clip was one of the standout scenes from the Netflix show and was widely re-shared by fans online condemning the duchess' harassment.

Captioned "Shame on everyone who made her feel like this," the new TikTok iteration of the clip has been viewed over a quarter of a million times in just 48 hours, gaining in excess of 5,000 likes and numerous comments, many of which have spoken in defense of Meghan.

"Meghan we love you back to front no matter what they say Prince Harry chose you for better and worse 🙏," wrote on user.

"My heart breaks for you and your family. I'm so sorry you've had to deal with all this ! ❤️" posted another, with a further comment reading: "I'm so sorry that there are people out there who can do this to someone they. don't know or out of jealousy! So 😢."

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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