London is an amazing place nowadays.

The colder it gets the more interesting it becomes, and there seems to be a silver lining in every cloud…

While the politics here always seems to be teetering on the edge with the new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer and his aides constantly under attack — from their own party members, from the Opposition and the media — the UK remains rich culturally, and there is always a lot to see and do. And to talk about!

And we can expect more now that Princess Catherine (or Kate Middleton as we know her) is also stepping out occasionally — as her cancer treatment appears to be have been successful.

But while we admire her spirit — we also learn that Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has declared herself to be one of the most bullied persons in the world. These days it certainly is beneficial to bare all on social media and reveal your innermost thoughts, as that gives you more of an “influential” image on the Internet. Influencers of all kinds are much sought after — especially as they can lead campaigns. The revelations from Meghan came during a discussion about “social media “in which Meghan’s organisation Archewell is working with Pivotal, a philanthropic organisation set up by Melinda Gates and the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation. These kinds of discussions are meant to guide the next generation on how to deal with cyberbullying. And Meghan has often said that she faced the worst form of bullying when she was pregnant with her two children.

The irony is that the same social media which has led to the bullying will now be used to lead the message of on how to deal with it. Oh well.

I may be one of the very few who still avoids using “X” or Instagram not just because people talk about the abusive content — but because I also find that that people becoming addicted to it — just like they were once addicted to alcohol or drugs. Many of them build up profiles based on frivolous matters (the dresses they wore, the parties they attended, the food they ate) only because they need to be seen on public platforms.

Of course, it helps if they develop a large following as then they can monetise it. But then — if you receive a backlash — don’t complain of cyber-bullying as on social media everyone has an opinion!