‘Thank you’: Two words spark Kate, Meghan social media meltdown

Both the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex have been absolutely slammed this week – for doing exactly the same thing.

Elton John, the royal family’s pet crooner, famously sang that sorry is the hardest word to say – but different rules seem to apply if you are married to a prince.

This week both Kate, The Princess of Wales and Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex left their houses to do the same thing, to say two ostensibly easy words – thank you – and in turn, both women set off the sorts of people who angrily two-finger type in the comments section.

It’s a funny old world, because somehow, Kate and Meghan have just found themselves on similar, toxic pages.

The Duchess of Sussex was first out of the gate, spending last Saturday visiting fire ravaged Pasadena, volunteering, handing out food and thanking first responders with Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex.

Photos showed Meghan sympathetically hugging a woman while a sombre-faced Harry watched on; the story of the duke finding a doughnut for an elderly man was soon doing the press rounds.

Even though this LA outing sounds like the sort of thing that Mother Teresa would have gotten up to during her off hours and if she had ever had a doughnut, then came the inevitable Sussex-lash. The duke and duchess were, certain cynical, mealy-mouthed sections of social media loudly argued, just there to burnish their halos and to enjoy the reflected good PR. (For the record, I strongly disagree).

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were branded ‘disaster tourists’ after meeting victims of the Los Angeles fires. Picture: CBS

Things came to a head when the Sussexes were labelled “disaster tourists” by barely-heard-from-since-the-80s star Justine Bateman. The couple, in turn, let it be known to People that they found her claim “offensive”. Meanwhile, every person under the age of 35 had to Google ‘Justine Bateman’. It was all a right to-do.

Bottom line: No matter how well-intentioned Harry and Meghan were, they still came in for a veritable bucketing, their simple attempt at saying thank you taking on a malignant life of its own.

Then, something similar happened in London.

Several days later, Kate undertook her first solo engagement since late 2023. (Time – what even is it any more?) Specifically, the princess paid a “surprise” visit to London’s Royal Marsden Hospital, revealing that was where she had undergone chemotherapy last year, to personally thank staff for their “exceptional” care.

Kate was also attacked for visiting the Royal Marsden Hospital, where she was treated for cancer after her own diagnosis. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

During the visit touching moments were had – a dog shook hands, and photos taken of Kate were predictably and immediately labelled iconic, like the one of a contemplative princess looking up as she arrived through the front door. (She later, per The Times, talked about the “secrecy” of having to use side doors during the “many quiet visits” of her treatment).

But hold your nose and dive head first into comments on X and the princess was really getting it, for simply wanting to express her gratitude.

Take the reaction on one post from People on X about Kate’s engagement.

Kate Middleton Surprises Cancer Patients at the Same Hospital Where She Was Treated Last Year in Rare Public Outing https://t.co/LgcWvWzJjT

— People (@people) January 14, 2025

“Is she to be known as a ‘disease tourist’?” one user asked.

“‘Rare public outing’ this woman just mastered the art of propaganda and lazy,” wrote another.

Elsewhere, she was being described as “evil” and “Satan” amid accusations the outing was “BS”.

“Sure … Surpises with a photographer in tow,” another person posted.

Was the Duchess of Sussex somehow drawn into things? Don’t you know it.

“[If this]was Meghan they would say she’s making it about herself,” argued one person.

“Just PR. Oh, Meghan’s show was supposed to be on,” another said.

(FYI, ‘surprise’ in the royal context just means not previously announced – it’s hardly as if, logistically and security-wise, these sorts of visits could be staged on the fly).

Then, things got even madder still.

The same day that Kate was visiting the Royal Marsden, the trailer for Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar, about cancer fraudster Belle Gibson, was released, truly setting off the loony fringe who all took a break from making their tinfoil helmets to revive last year’s conspiracy theories about Kate’s cancer diagnosis.

Both women just wanted to say ‘thank you’. Picture: Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images

But those two words sparked a social media furore. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

On one single Variety post sharing the trailer alone, there were so many comments comparing faker Gibson and the princess, I got bored copying and pasting.

All of this is plainly ludicrous, but these comments show just how far into the great crevasse of crazy people have fallen in the last year. The discourse surrounding the Princess of Wales has gotten so atrociously polarised it’s head-spinning – either she’s so saintly she could tap dance on water, or she’s some devious duper of the highest order.

What is incredible is, for both Meghan and Kate, even something so seemingly straightforward and altruistic of them as saying thank you has ended up horribly twisted and warped, these well-meaning outings fashioned into partisan cudgels, ‘proof’ of their supposed diabolicalness.

That extremism, that ability to provoke such intense feelings in strangers, is something that, should they ever utter a single, solitary syllable to each other again, Meghan could probably tell Kate something about.

To use some other song lyrics to close this out, isn’t it ironic?

Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles