If you’ve ever logged onto the Daily Mail’s website, you know there are hundreds of crazy rude royal watchers in this world. We should call them anti-royal watchers, since they sit around and wait for news to criticize. This is  nothing new – the internet is becoming a place for passive-aggressive cruelty, with cyber bullying and cyber attacks making weekly headlines. As someone who closely follows the news, especially royally-related stories, I have seen more hateful comments that I ever thought possible.

Last week, I received two critical comments on an article I wrote. One was a reasonable opinion, but the second was a rude, personal attack on myself and on the Duchess of Cambridge. We are very lucky to have  a community of strong, thoughtful, and considerate readers and followers who rarely go beyond a heated debate. Sometimes, however, we receive a rude, downright mean remark on Kate, her family, her choices, and sometimes even ourselves.

Immediately, I asked myself – what would Kate do? My reaction was immediate. I deleted the comment. Then, I marked it as spam – because that hateful attack was not welcome on my website. It has been said that the Duchess of Cambridge purposely avoids media outlets that might write stories about her. She steers clear of social media, tabloids, and websites where she might find hurtful remarks about her. And if she does catch a glimpse of the madness – perhaps in line at Tesco – I can see her laughing to herself and turning the cover the other way.

In our own lives, we can avoid the evil places that hateful remarks might be hiding. Block or report bullies on Facebook or Twitter immediately. Stay away from websites that may write distasteful articles on yourself, your family, or your personal life. Delete any mean-spirited e-mails before opening them. You have the power to avoid these encounters with the click of a small red “X” on your screen.

We laughed particularly hard at this one

What if you can’t avoid them? What if you’re standing in line at the grocery store and you see a horrible picture with an untruthful headline on the cover? Perhaps this doesn’t happen to all of us – but on occasion, we cannot avoid the hateful comment, article, or rumor. The best thing to do is read it and move on. Laugh at the cruel, desperate attempts to upset you, and then flip the cover around.

Life is too short to read the Daily Mail comments. How do you deal with internet meanness?