May is Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month and last week, Kate Middleton marked the occasion by issuing a statement about the importance of ensuring that pregnant women have access to proper psychiatric care.
Kate noted that this care must be supplemented by support from friends, family, and community.
“We all know that pregnancy, childbirth and the first months and years of a child’s life can be hugely demanding,” reads a tweet from the official Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Twitter account.
“It is crucial, therefore, that all those who might be struggling are given the right support at the right time,” Kate added in a video tweeted by the account.
“Over the last decade, charities and organisations have come together to transform attitudes, raise awareness and ensure that services are available to parents and babies at this important time in their lives,” she continued.
Obviously, it’s an important message, and Kate deserves credit for calling attention to an issue that doesn’t receive enough attention.
But some critics believe that the Duchess is guilty of rank hypocrisy, as she allegedly failed to offer such support to Meghan Markle when she was pregnant and struggling.
Meghan’s 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview was loaded with shocking revelations, and many of them had to do with the period of time when Meghan was pregnant with her first child, Archie.
It was during this time, Meghan recalled, that she and Harry decided their lives in the UK were no longer sustainable.
Meghan shocked audiences with her claim that during her pregnancy, an unnamed member of the royal family expressed concerns about Archie’s complexion.
She added that she became so depressed during the final months of her pregnancy that she considered suicide.
Asked if she received any support from the royals, Meghan stated that she turned to her in-laws for support, but was brutally rebuffed.
“I went to the institution, and I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help, that I’ve never felt this way before, that I needed to go somewhere,” she told Winfrey.
“And I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution,” the Duchess of Sussex recalled.
Several Twitter users called Kate out for failing to stand up for Meghan during her time of need, including prominent activist and author Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, who issued a scathing response to the Duchess’ tweet.
“Agreed Duchess Kate so when Meghan Markle was suicidal/needed mental health support during her pregnancy why didn’t she receive ANY from Royal Family?” Mos-Shogbamimu replied.
Kate, of course, did not respond to that question, or any of the other tweets that pointed out her alleged hypocrisy.
The latest controversy involving the Duchesses comes at an interesting time.
To the surprise of many royal-watchers, Meghan and Harry have been invited to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which is scheduled to take place in June.
While the Sussexes will not be permitted to stand on the Queen’s balcony with the rest of the royals, the festivities will be attended by the entire Windsor clan, which means that Kate and Meghan will likely come face-to-face for the first time in over two years.
And while we’re sure both women will maintain their decorum, the encounter is sure to be an intensely awkward one.
And the whole world will be watching to see if the sisters-in-law are able to at least feign affection for one another.
