Britain鈥檚 press is urging social media users to tone down inappropriate criticism of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Palace officials have been seeking help from Instagram to monitor and remove offensive comments about the two duchesses, who are married to Prince Harry and Prince William.

Palace aides have been spending hours each week moderating comments on the official Palace Instagram account and removing racist and sexist content.

There have been rumours in recent months that Meghan and Kate have been feuding, which could have partly fueled online abuse with fans of one duchess criticizing the other online in very personal terms.

Meghan, an American actress who married Harry in May, is pregnant with their first child, and some on social media and in the press have taken to criticizing her for cradling her 鈥渂aby bump鈥� during public engagements.

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The Times newspaper reported Tuesday in an editorial called 鈥淰ile Abuse鈥� that many of the comments made about Meghan and Kate are too vicious to publish and have included threats.

鈥淲omen receive more abuse online than men and this sad truth seems to apply just as much to the royal family,鈥� the newspaper said.

The paper also condemned the treatment of Rachel Riley, a British television personality who has complained about a torrent of anti-Semitic abuse on Twitter.

In response to the rise of abusive comments directed at the royal women, Hello! magazine this week launched a 鈥渒indness鈥� campaign urging posters to think twice before posting nasty comments.

鈥淔or us, it鈥檚 not acceptable to pit two women against each other,鈥� the magazine鈥檚 royal correspondent Emily Nash said in a video announcing the campaign. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not acceptable to post abusive, threatening, racist or sexist comments online. And it鈥檚 not acceptable to attack other users just because they disagree with you.鈥�

Gregory Katz, The Associated Press

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