Prince Harry has been praised for his statement condemning sexism after his relationship with Meghan Markle went public.
Prince Harry
It was "a really important moment" for society when the 32-year-old royal addressed the offensive gender inequality in reports about his new girlfriend when news broke of their relationship in November, says the found of the Everyday Sexism Project, Laura Bates.
She told the BBC: "We saw an unwarranted focus on her clothes, on her make-up, on her hairstyle" and added that "pointing out the inequality being faced by somebody in a position that he would never be in" was "a major positive."
Shortly after their relationship was revealed, the flame-haired royal released a statement claiming his lover had been on the receiving end of a "wave of abuse and harassment " including "outright sexism and racism."
The statement, released on his behalf by Kensington Palace, said: "Prince Harry is worried about Ms Markle's safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her. It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms Markle should be subjected to such a storm."
Meghan, 35, was also on the receiving end of racial abuse after she went public with Prince Harry and had previously penned a gut wrenching letter about the comments she endured on social media over her role as Rachel Zane in US legal drama 'Suits'.
In the post published via Elle magazine, Meghan said: "I remember the tweets when that first episode of the Zane family aired, they ran the gamut from: 'Why would they make her dad black? She's not black' to 'Ew, she's black? I used to think she was hot.' The latter was blocked and reported.
"The reaction was unexpected, but speaks of the undercurrent of racism that is so prevalent, especially within America."
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