Prince William faces backlash as he defends football players from racism and not Meghan Markle

In a message shared on social media, Prince William condemned the racist trolls who bullied football players Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, and Jadon Sancho, following England's defeat to Italy at the Euro 2020. But while fans found his public show of support commendable, others pointed out that he did not do the same for his sister-in-law Meghan Markle.

The Duke of Cambridge took to Twitter to share that he is "sickened" by the amount of abuse the trio received online. He also described the behaviour as "abhorrent" and called for those responsible to be held accountable.

However, other social media users took issue with the fact that he was quiet after Meghan Markle alleged she experienced racism in the palace. They pointed out the level of hypocrisy in his statement.

"See the hypocrisy, where were u when your brother's wife was being harassed, vilified?? where was this energy, William? You would have even kept quiet than putting out this statement, u must be even the one who questioned the baby's skin colour," one commented.

Another wrote, "Hahaha it's funny that you acknowledge racism everywhere else EXCEPT in your own family! And please don't get us started on.. the racial atrocities inflicted upon the world by ENGLAND — your crown jewel — i.e. your FAMILY!"

Others shared similar responses with one asking Prince William to share "a similar statement about the racial abuse against your sister-in-law and nephew." Another netizen reminded the royal that he has "the ability to condemn racism - not just in soccer - but when it's directed at your own family members" and urged him to "use that power" as it "would speak volumes."

In her Oprah interview in March, Meghan Markle revealed that a member of the Royal Family had asked about how dark Archie's skin colour would be before he was born. She and Prince Harry refused to name the person but confirmed it was not Queen Elizabeth II nor Prince Philip. She also denied reports that she made Kate Middleton cry, but that it was the other way around. Following the interview, Prince William had only told reporters when asked to comment about the duchess' racism allegations that they are "very much not a racist family."