The abuse is awful. It’s personal and vicious.

And while none of the Royal Family are immune from criticism at times I’ve never seen it as extreme, or in such vast quantities as around the Duchess of Sussex.

I’d obviously been aware that Meghan had her critics especially on the virtual soapbox that social media sites have become, but I wanted to drill down into where it was coming from, the things people were saying and how widespread it was.

That’s where the research from Storyful came in.

What’s interesting is that the posts they found – the cruel caricatures, malicious slurs and racist hate – would simply not be socially acceptable to say aloud in public and there would be outrage if those comments were for example shouted at the duchess.

Yet from the privacy of their social media accounts people think it’s absolutely fine to sling racist abuse about Meghan and even her unborn child. And what’s worse is that thousands of people are retweeting it and liking it.

It’s readily available to see on the social media accounts that you and I would use. Go on more secretive fringe platforms and the comments become more extreme.

Yes, some of the posts are from people who don’t like Meghan and see her mixed-race heritage and American ways as diluting a very British Institution.

But others are doing this for their own gain and capitalising on this anti-Meghan trend. They know “Meghan” or “DuchessofSussex” are highly searchable, along with some of their more offensive hashtags like #maggotmarkle, #megxit and #charlatanduchess.

By posting them it drives traffic to their social media accounts, increases their number of likes and followers. People can then monetise those accounts by selling merchandise, directing other users to subscription only platforms, or use the accounts to push their own political agenda.

What’s also interesting to observe is how they use articles or videos from mainstream media sites to push their agenda.

A video I tweeted after Meghan attended an event on International Women’s Day was used to apparently confirm the theory that Meghan isn’t pregnant and she wears a fake bump.

The accounts also celebrate any negative stories that have appeared in the papers.

In the past couple of years, and increasingly since Meghan has been on the scene, social media around the royals has become a divisive space.

And it’s been acknowledged by the palace too, which issued its first ever set of guidelines for its accounts this year.

Partly it was in response to the offensive posts, but it was also because Meghan supporters and Meghan critics were viciously trading insults on these official platforms.

Meghan fans can be just as brutal and at times threatening towards anyone they don’t think is 100% behind the duchess.

That includes anyone, like myself, who’s tried to analyse what makes Meghan unique from the princesses and duchesses we’ve seen before.

It’s easy to portray Meghan as a helpless victim in all this. And no one should have to put up with this tirade of offensive posts.

She claimed on International Women’s Day that she doesn’t read the comments on the likes of Twitter. But as a former actress, who previously ran her own social media accounts and her blog “The Tig”, she knows how powerful these platforms can be.

That’s why it was so important that the duke and duchess launched their own @SussexRoyal Instagram account, and in time for the arrival of their baby.

Words and phrases in some of the posts, like diapers instead of nappies, certainly give signals of an American influence on their new platform and may hint that Meghan is more hands-on than would outwardly appear.

The mere mention of “Baby Sussex” in one post sent fans into a spin. And that’s the complexity of all of this.

Social media and the online trolls may be seen as the enemy of this modern royal couple, but they know they can’t avoid engaging with it.

And through their own accounts they intend to take control of the social media phenomenon their new child will inevitably become

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