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The reaction to Meghan Markle's visit to Uvalde, Texas, in the wake of Tuesday's shooting at Robb Elementary School in which 19 children and two educators were killed has been compared online to that following a visit paid by Kate Middleton to a London memorial for young woman murdered by a police officer in 2021.
Meghan traveled to Uvalde on Thursday where she visited a memorial to the victims of 18-year-old Salvador Ramos who was identified as the gunman who shot and killed 21 people at an elementary school on May 24.
Before laying flowers at the memorial, BuzzFeed reported that the duchess had visited the Herby Ham Activity Center where she delivered bags of food to volunteers organizing an emergency blood drive for the local hospital.
A spokesperson for Meghan said that the duchess visited Uvalde in "a personal capacity as a mother" to offer her "condolences and support in person to a community experiencing unimaginable grief," reported The Independent.
Meghan has previously shown her support for the victims of gun violence in March 2019 where she accompanied Prince Harry to the New Zealand High Commission in London to sign a book of condolence for the 51 victims of a shooting across two mosques in Christchurch.
After laying flowers the couple wrote a message in the condolence book reading: "We are with you."
Despite Meghan's visit to Uvalde being unannounced beforehand, the gesture has been criticized for being a PR stunt by some on social media.
"I find her posing like this with no doubt her own photographer utterly disgusting. I'm used to her PR stunts but this actually makes me angry. By all means, pay your respects but posing 4 photographs & releasing to the media is SICK," one Twitter user wrote.
This criticism has been compared with the more positive reaction that Kate Middleton received when she made an unannounced visit to the memorial arranged on London's Clapham Common after the murder of Sarah Everard in 2021.
Everard's murder by Metropolitan police officer Wayne Couzens sparked protest from women around Britain including the vigil held at the Clapham Common memorial that Kate Middleton attended in daytime. The vigil was broken up by the police in the evening as it went against COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings, garnering even greater public backlash.
Lawyer and activist Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, author of This Is Why I Resist, took to Twitter to defend Meghan, highlighting the double standard between outrage over the duchess' visit and Kate's in 2021. She wrote:
"Duchess Meghan Markle ISN'T AFRAID to follow her heart for #Uvalde victims & they hate her for it. The haters don't want to see her do anything good but she refuses to oblige. Good.
When Duchess Kate laid flowers at Sarah Everard vigil she wasn't vilified or accused of PR stunt."
This sentiment was seconded by broadcaster Lorraine King who expressed the view that the gestures by both duchesses were made with kindness but that they were being used to paint Meghan in a bad light. She posted:
"Meghan Markle lays flowers as a tribute to the victims of the Texas school shooting.
"Kate Middleton lays flowers as a tribute to Sarah Everard. Which of these two kind and thoughtful acts do you think attracts the most hate?"
Daily Telegraph arts and entertainment editor Anita Singh was among other social media users to highlight the difference between the reaction to Meghan's Uvalde visit and that to Kate's at the Everard memorial, calling out those who find issue with one and not the other. Se said:
"All the people having a go at Meghan for visiting the Texas school memorial were just as angry about Kate going to the Sarah Everard vigil, right? Just checking"
All the people having a go at Meghan for visiting the Texas school memorial were just as angry about Kate going to the Sarah Everard vigil, right? Just checking
— Anita Singh (@anitathetweeter) May 26, 2022
Despite receiving a positive reaction from many, Kate's visit to the Sarah Everard's memorial did not pass without criticism.
Some online and in the media questioned if Kate had broken the law by appearing at the memorial given that the U.K government was still enforcing COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. This brought about claims that the royals were able to break the rules by virtue of their position.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick disputed the claim that the duchess broke the law in an interview, according to The Independent, stating that the royal attended "in the course of her duties, she was working."
Meghan has often been compared to Kate, frequently unfavorably, since the former married Prince Harry in 2018. Meghan referenced this in her landmark 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Speaking about the negative press she received after reports circulated that she had made Kate cry, and how she wished people could support both royals without demonizing one or the other, Meghan said: "What I have seen play out is this idea of polarity, where if you love me, you don't have to hate her. And if you love her, you don't need to hate me."
She added that the British press "really seemed to want a narrative of a hero and a villain."
Meghan and Kate have not been seen together publicly since March 2020 and royal watchers are expecting the pair to be reunited at some of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations next week, which the Sussexes have confirmed they are attending.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more