The open letter, headed up by Labour MP Holly Lynch, was published on Twitter and included signatures from dozens of women across parties and political lines.
It included references to the “distasteful and misleading nature of the stories” written about Meghan since she first began dating Prince Harry, and labelled many reports about the duchess as “an invasion of your privacy.”
The letter also condemned racist “colonial undertones” that have presented in the media in reports about Markle, saying they “cannot be allowed to go unchallenged”.
Earlier this month, former Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton likewise blamed racism for the relentless and unwarranted pursuit of Markle by the British media, suggesting “the way she’s been treated is inexplicable.”
She added: “I think if the explanation is that she’s biracial, then shame on everybody. It’s certainly part of it.”
In an unprecedented move, Prince Harry announced his wife’s plan to sue the Mail on Sunday paper after they published a private letter from Markle to her estranged father. The couple alleged a misuse of private information, infringement of copyright, and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018 in a public statement made earlier this month.
Women MPs from all political parties have put aside our differences to stand in solidarity with the Duchess of Sussex today and are sending her this open letter. pic.twitter.com/ytLHG5qPf4
— Holly Lynch MP (@HollyLynch5) October 29, 2019
Since the airing of the Royal couple’s South African Tour last week, Meghan & Harry: An African Journey, numerous public personalities have also spoken up against the ruthless treatment of Markle by the media.
Markle herself disclosed her personal struggles with the scrutiny saying to ITV’s Tom Bradby, “I never thought that this would be easy, but I thought it would be fair and that’s the part that’s really hard to reconcile.”
She also spoke about the unique and unrivalled challenge of being a new mother in such circumstances.
“Any woman, especially when they’re pregnant, you’re really vulnerable, and so that was made really challenging, and then when you have a newborn, you know. And especially as a woman, it’s a lot.”
As her voice cracked, she added:
“So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed. It’s um…yeah. I guess, also thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I’m okay, but it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”
When the reporter asked simply if she was not okay, Markle answered: “Yes.”
The full letter signed by UK’s female Parliamentarians can be read below:
“As women MPs of political persuasions, we wanted to express our solidarity with you in taking a stand against the often distasteful and misleading nature of the stories printed in our national newspapers concerning you, your character and your family.
On occasions, stories and headlines have represented an invasion of your privacy and have sought to cast aspersions about your character, without any good reason as far as we can see.
Even more concerning still, we are calling out what can only be described as outdated, colonial undertones to some of these stories. As women Members of Parliament from all backgrounds, we stand with you in saying it cannot be allowed to go unchallenged.
Although we find ourselves being women in public life in a very different way to you, we share an understanding of the abuse and intimidation which is now so often used as a means of disparaging women in the public office from getting on with very important work.
With this in mind we expect the national media to have the integrity to know when a story is in the national interest and when it is seeking to tear a woman down for no apparent reason.
You have our assurances that we stand with you in solidarity on this.
We will use the means at our disposal to ensure that our press accept your right to privacy and show respect, and that their stories reflect the truth.”