
Source: Samir Hussein / Getty
For days, Black Twitter joked about “Karriet Tubman” after a news story loosely linked British royal Kate Middleton to one of her abolitionist ancestors.
Social media users took to the internet with jokes and memes following the Daily Mail’s article, published April 14. Written by royal biographer and journalist Claudia Joseph, the piece claimed that one of Middleton’s ancestors fought “a lifelong battle to abolish slavery and racism in the U.S.”
In light of the news, Twitter users jokingly dubbed Middleton “Karriet Tubman” as a twist on Harriet Tubman. For her heroic and life-changing abolitionary work, the formerly enslaved Black American woman, Tubman, is regarded in history books as the “conductor” of the Underground Railroad.
Tweets from the online roast session about Middleton shared laughable revisionist histories that put the royal at the center of Black culture and the fight for equality. Some posts painted Middleton as an advocate in the civil rights movement. Another showed the royal as an abolitionist “Confederate bride.”
A slew of other silly posts displayed Middleton in an afro, wearing a bonnet and as Sofia from The Color Purple.
They’re really calling Kate Middleton Karriet Tubman and I just need everyone to log OFF pic.twitter.com/LL25jEEbP1
— Meech (@MediumSizeMeech) April 17, 2023
Hmm Karriet Tubman is trending.She has a new hairdo & a new palace. 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/WlF13YvLm5
— Nellie Kelly (@NellieKelly1882) April 15, 2023
Confederate bride Karriet Tubman going to free slaves. pic.twitter.com/kHikjmAICg
— Ir🛡 (@asiko3marie) April 15, 2023
Before I bid y’all good night, I want to leave y’all with this. Sister #KarrietTubman heard about Brother Malcolm’s problem with the FBI and decided to become his personal Bodyguard. ✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾. She was really for the people. pic.twitter.com/lPGhRiiWdN
— Cₕᵢₗdₗₑₛₛ wₒₘₑₙ gₒₜ y’ₐₗₗ ₘₐd😎 (@Blu_Alexia_) April 17, 2023
I knew I seen her ass there. According to newly unearthed documents, Kate Middleton wrote the famous ‘I Have A Dream’ speech. Wow #KarrietTubman #BlackHistory 😂 pic.twitter.com/on10hCJPwO
— Cₕᵢₗdₗₑₛₛ wₒₘₑₙ gₒₜ y’ₐₗₗ ₘₐd😎 (@Blu_Alexia_) April 16, 2023
#KarrietTubman is trending because our amazing Karen Wrinkleton must get an award for saving so many Black and Brown people from …. getting into royalty! #KKKhate #Katemiddletonisabully #KateMiddletonIsAMeanGirl #ToxicRoyalFamily #KarriettTubman #ConANation pic.twitter.com/cTreQln66u
— grace teelbee (@GTeelbee) April 15, 2023
#KarrietTubman be like "All my life I had to fight. The Royal Family ain't safe for no girlchild" #KarriettTubman #KKKate #Kkkhate #duchessdolittle pic.twitter.com/JuxddN0gB2
— BleachOD (@MalikaSowers) April 17, 2023
Here she is off to free black people😂🤣🤣😂 #KarrietTubman 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/TvXTfNPqaJ
— Riverrun (@Riverru59977251) April 17, 2023
Not everybody calling Kate Middleton Karriet Tubman 😭 good-fucking-night #KarrietTubman pic.twitter.com/2gAolPyoSc
— Litebright101 (@litebright101) April 16, 2023
Other online users pointed out that the Daily Mail’s article seemed like royalist propaganda.
Several tweets suggested that the article was published to help the monarchy combat racism allegations.
Royal Family: We really need an image on overhaul to beat these racism allegations 😢
Daily Mail: Say no more…#KarrietTubman pic.twitter.com/5T10JeUFLW— Boom The Brazen Hussy (@TheDuchessBoom) April 15, 2023
They set #KarrietTubman up. It is delicious to watch. That article is not doing what it was supposed to do, that is prop up Prince William’s first wife. Mean while the 2nd wife 🌹 has been getting glowing articles. We are having a good laugh. pic.twitter.com/ROHjpPHdxM
— Sussex Superfan (@FourTomatoz) April 15, 2023
This is embarrassing for a journalist but then again @ClaudiaJoseph works for the Daily Mail…which is an extension of Kensington Palace. #KarrietTubman https://t.co/rPO8LwPkP7 pic.twitter.com/Xc1Eof9c9H
— Island Girl – 100% Pro-Choice, Vote Blue in 2022 (@bluepolitics_) April 16, 2023
Kate Middleton needs to fire who ever gave them the idea to plant that story…cause she’s getting COOKED on Twitter!! #KarrietTubman pic.twitter.com/eA73IrUk4D
— Tony 🐳 (@demond218) April 16, 2023
The Daily Mail’s reporting alleged that Middleton’s great-great-great-great-great-aunt “became known as ‘the greatest American abolitionist.'”
The outlet also claimed that the woman, Harriet Martineau, “played a key role” in what spearheaded slavery’s end in the U.K. and the U.S.

Source: Education Images / Getty
Historian Michael Reed informed Joseph’s article on Martineau and connected the historical figure to her descendant, Middleton.
Martineau reportedly lobbied Presidents John Madison and Andrew Jackson against slavery. Madison was America’s fourth leader, and Jackson the nation’s seventh. It wasn’t until the sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln, that the Emancipation Proclamation declared the freedom of all enslaved people in states that succeeded from the Union during the Civil War.
Martineau advocated for equality regardless of skin tone in her 1837 book Society In America. The historical figure also reportedly helped two slaves, William and Ellen Craft, flee Georgia and gain refuge in England. The 19th-century author is remembered as the first British female sociologist, The Martineau Society stated.
Although her distant abolitionist auntie may have been down for the cause, Middletown seemingly tried to set civil rights back to the pre-Montgomery Rosa Parks bus boycott era.
On the heels of Prince Charles’ May 6 coronation as the King of England, the salty princess, affectionately known as Pippa, reportedly stated the only way her sister-in-law and fellow princess, Meghan Markle, could attend was if she sat “at the back.”
Markle, justifiably, won’t attend, while Prince Harry will go to show face, being the fifth heir to the throne.
So much for Martineau’s legacy.
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