A screenshot circulating on social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Reddit, purportedly shows an official tweet from Prince William and Kate Middleton's Kensington Palace account claiming that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle used a surrogate for their 2019 pregnancy. However, fact-checking website Snopes has debunked the claim, finding no evidence of the tweet being posted on the Kensington Royal X account.
The alleged tweet, dated May 6, 2019, and posted from Frogmore Cottage, a royal residence in Windsor, read: "This is a public announcement. The Duke & Duchess of Sussex used the services of a surrogate. we apologise for any misunderstanding." The account also questioned why "the mainstream media" was not reporting on the issue.
Snopes noted several inconsistencies in the purported tweet, including grammatical errors, inconsistent line spacing, and the fact that it was supposedly posted from Frogmore Cottage, which was occupied by Harry and Meghan at the time, not William and Kate. The British Royal Family's official website did not mention any surrogacy when announcing Archie's birth on May 6, 2019, and reputable news outlets have not reported on such claims.
Why is the mainstream media not talking about this pic.twitter.com/u7tyzZWUl0 — Suzie (@wuikle) April 17, 2024
The fake tweet is just one example of the ongoing conspiracy theories and attacks targeting Meghan Markle. Sadie Quinlan, a woman from Wales, has been a prominent figure in promoting these conspiracies, along with Markle's half-sister Samantha Markle and other individuals. Quinlan's Twitter account was recently unsuspended following changes to the platform's policies under Elon Musk's leadership, sparking concerns about the spread of misinformation and hate speech.
Quinlan and her associates have promoted the false theory that Markle used a surrogate, that her children with Prince Harry were not her own, and in some extreme cases, that the children do not exist at all. These conspiracies have been spread through private chat groups, Twitter, and YouTube, with doctored images and videos used to support the claims.
The release of Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary series has reignited these conspiracy theories, with believers using images from the series as supposed proof of a fake pregnancy. Christopher Bouzy, a researcher who has been tracking the anti-Meghan hate group for years, compared the movement to QAnon, stating, "You could have a video of Meghan giving birth and they will probably claim that it is CGI. We're not dealing with rational people here."
The ease with which Quinlan and others have regained access to platforms like Twitter and YouTube has raised questions about the responsibility of social media companies in countering misinformation and hate speech. YouTube recently took down Quinlan's new account following reporting by VICE News, but many other channels dedicated to attacking Markle remain active and monetized.
Bouzy criticized YouTube's role in the spread of these conspiracies, stating, "YouTube is complicit in a lot of this stuff. If YouTube enforced their own policies and did not monetize these accounts, they wouldn't be doing this, because they would have to actually find work so they can't sit around and put out videos all day."
