There's an art to hating Meghan Markle.

During the summer holidays, in the haze between Christmas and New Year's Day, I allowed myself a few days of couch-rotting escapism where I outsourced all my decision-making to the Netflix algorithm.

What it decided to serve me up was Suits, the American legal drama that ran for nine seasons after premiering in 2011 and received a resurgence in popularity after it landed on the streaming platform.

As far as binegable shows go, Suits is an optimal choice. The characters are engaging, the plot is fast-moving (if a little repetitive), and watching fashionable people storm about an office having dramatic encounters with each other and rarely practicing any type of law is enough to keep you enthralled until that shameful little 'are you still watching?' message pops up on the screen.

Yet looking past the inappropriate office footwear and the never-ending stream of co-worker quips, the biggest takeaway from looking back on Suits is the stark public transformation of Meghan Markle.

Once upon a time, Meghan Markle was known for portraying Rachel Zane in the legal drama for seven seasons, a para-legal with perfectly applied cheek bronzer who dreamed of becoming a lawyer.

Elsewhere in the public sphere, she was also known as the creator of lifestyle blog The Tig and a Google search of her name would only turn up sweet stories about her, moments where she would lean over to gently wipe away a drop of water that had fallen onto a reporter's face in the middle of a red carpet interview, just to ensure that her make-up wouldn't be smeared.

Now, in regards to her public persona, the tables have turned so intently that even the Mad Hatter would look at them and think they were too out of place for a social gathering.

Listen to The Spill podcast explain the latest lie about Meghan Markle.

The 43-year-old actress turned member of the British Royal Family is now more widely known for being fame-hungry, difficult, demanding, a 'grifter' and destroyer of Royal families who previously seemed happy but most probably were not.

Not in every circle, of course, but for those who choose to scream the loudest whenever her name is making headlines and a hint of scandal begins to waft through the algorithms, the sound of online hatred drowns out everything else.

From the moment Meghan Markle married Prince Harry in 2018, hating her has become somewhat of an art form.

In the lead-up to the Royal wedding, Meghan told the BBC that the couple "were hit so hard at the beginning with a lot of mistruths" and in the years that followed these words still ring true. There are mountains of stories about Meghan Markle available for public consumption, yet even the most avid Markle followers would still not be able to fully distinguish fact from fiction.

From early accusations that she caused a rift between Prince Harry and Prince William, to depicting her as the mastermind who forced Harry away from his family when the couple stepped back as senior Royals in 2020 to the many reports that a number of her staff including an assistant, a secretary, and a bodyguard all quit because of her controlling behaviour, there have been extensive Meghan Markle news cycles where the bad stories far outweigh the good.

The public disdain for Meghan appeared to soften slightly following her in-depth interview with Oprah in 2021 and the release of the couple's Netflix series in 2022. Both offered a deeper look beyond the curtain into what the mother of two has been faced with since she stepped into royal life.

Yet once the couple settled in Los Angeles and began to release projects and announce new brands, the scepticism and hatred against them once again kicked into full force.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Image: Getty.

Following their highly publicised podcast deal, Spotify's head of podcast innovation and monetisation Bill Simmons called Harry and Meghan a pair of "grifters" after their $20 million, multi-year deal to make podcasts with the streaming platform came to an end after they released just 12 episodes.

In the months that followed, the couple's charitable Archewell Foundation was listed as "delinquent" by US authorities, after a cheque for registration failed to arrive (although the charity later confirmed that this issue had been rectified).

Despite being one of the most photographed women in the world, with billions of words dedicated to chronicling her life and the time spent watching TIkToks capturing her every move taking up years of our lives, Meghan Markle's true actions and motivations still remain a mystery and probably always will. As is normally the case with anyone in the public eye whose life is dolled out to us in sometimes sensationalised snippets.

However, the act of hating her has evolved into the art of projecting the various wrongs of the world onto a woman who has been accused of everything from lying about not Googling her husband's name before they met to attempting to harm Princess Charlotte by hiding toxic flowers in her flower girl bouquet.

When Meghan was accused of being fame-hungry by marrying into the royal family, she became a stand-in for the way we loathe people whose manipulative ways have wronged us.

When Meghan was accused of bullying staff and other members of the royal family, she became a stand-in for every person who has treated us badly in the workplace or within our own families and is still publicly adored.

When her new business venture American Riviera Orchard was first announced (and then ridiculed), she became a projection of our hatred for everything from influencer culture, to hollow celebrity brands and even over-consumption.

While critiquing and joking about celebrity antics and brands is nothing new, there's almost become a shorthand for the jokes and call-outs we can create towards Meghan. Thanks to the build-up of ridicule against her, you don't have to reach too far to point out a flaw or make a joke that your target audience won't instantly understand and have the background information for.

Whether you're trolling her earnest homemaker ways or calling her 'too woke' when she speaks on social issues, there's an audience already primed to hungrily receive every barb and criticism formed around the former working royal.

Take a look at the trailer for the upcoming Netflix series With Love, Meghan.

This behaviour quickly reared its head once again when the trailer for her upcoming Netflix series With Love, Meghan was released, ahead of the food and lifestyle series premiering in March (the original January premiere date was cancelled due to the Los Angeles wildfires).

Some called it uninspiring, others insisted it was yet another grab for money and attention while some voiced their anger and concern that a woman who once spoke at the United Nations was now attempting to 'rebrand as trad wife'.

In response to the backlash, a number of Meghan's friends came to her defence, including chef Adrian Lipscombe who said via Instagram: "How are you going to criticise someone or judge a TV show before it has even aired? This isn't just about Meghan Markle. It's about a systemic issue in media and entertainment that continues to dismiss or belittle efforts by women, especially women of colour, to create something meaningful."

Mindy Kaling, who appears in Meghan's Netflix special, defended her when Variety asked for her thoughts on the backlash, saying "I just feel like people get mad about stuff … that feels unnecessary. And a waste of time, maybe."

This week another story about Meghan Markle's behaviour began circulating, leading to a new wave of backlash against the former actress. Via a series of news clips, photos and videos, Meghan and Harry's visit to an evacuation centre and food bank in support of people affected by the wildfires in Los Angeles was broadcast to the world and the response was almost instantaneous.

They were called everything from 'ambulance chases' to 'disaster tourists' and ridiculed for only appearing for photo opportunities and then quickly leaving the scene. Outlets such as People magazine later confirmed the couple worked a full day at the evacuation center, yet that was not the story that rose to the surface.

This is because Meghan Markle is a celebrity that we have dissected on every possible level. As a woman, a wife, a mother, a celebrity, a sister-in-law, an entrepreneur, a podcast host, a social justice warrior, an actress, and now, as a volunteer.

Our desire to be the first one to the Meghan Markle commentary or critique has overridden our desire to look for the truth, the empathy or even the humour.

Ensuring the woman is destined to remain forever a punchline.

With Love, Meghan will premiere on Netflix Tuesday March 4.

Laura Brodnik is Mamamia's Head of Entertainment and host of The Spill podcast. You can follow her on Instagram here for more entertainment news and recommendations.Feature Image: Universal Pictures Australia.

Feature Image: Getty