If you can’t say anything nice about baby Lilibet, don’t say anything at all

Misan Harriman

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have just welcomed their second child, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, whose name was chosen in tribute to Her Maj the Queen as well as Harry’s late mother Diana. It’s all very touching, except of course if you’ve already decided to detest the Sussexes. In which case, it’s an unforgivable offence.

Most great-grandparents would be overjoyed to learn that their name were being passed down in generations, especially a nickname as meaningful as this one.  The Twitter trolls in the peanut gallery didn’t quite see it that way and were set alight with rage - after a year on the warpath against the Royal Family, how dare Meghan and Harry blaspheme in such a way! There were questions of whether the Queen’s permission had been asked, speculation over whether it was meant as a dig to the Royal Family or on the other extreme, part of some desperate scheme to be welcomed back into the fold. I personally would like to know where Twitter user Andy459 with 7 followers and a vacant profile picture is getting his intel, because apparently he knows the Queen’s thoughts and feelings very well indeed.

At this point, I wonder what the Sussexes could possibly do that would be considered honourable to these people. Raise awareness about mental illness: they must want attention. Slam racism: look how dramatic they’re being. Solve world hunger: why didn’t they do it sooner?

If there’s anything to get outraged about it’s the “Georgina Floydina” comment from Julie Burchill, along with other ignorant jibes from critics of the same ilk. Sadly the racist trolls are so predictable that as far as the Sussexes are concerned, any reaction less than abhorrent would have made for a surprising change.

I’d like to remind people that sometimes it’s okay to just stay quiet if you have nothing pleasant to say. If Meghan and Harry are as attention-hungry as you insist, then surely it makes more sense to starve them of that attention? I promise you won’t burst into flames if you decide to look at a piece of news and not respond to it all, rather than fighting tooth and nail to vilify two public figures you’ll probably never get the opportunity to cross paths with.

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