My favorite fantasy when I was about five or six, was to be a princess in a castle with a handsome prince. I lived in my blue sparkly Cinderella costume, dancing to sing-along Disney princess DVDs in my plastic sparkly heels.

When my sister and I discovered that royalty wasn’t just a fairytale, but existed in Westminster, England as Prince William and Prince Harry, both single at the time, we were elated. In our backyard, we would construct the fanciest mud pies you have ever seen, and deliver them on our bikes to royal parties at Buckingham Palace where we would fall in love with the princes, and live happily ever after. When Kate Middleton married Prince William, one of us had to sacrifice our fantasy, and we often bickered over who got Prince Harry.

And then Meghan Markle came into the picture and all our childish dreams of marrying royalty drifted away.I had never heard of Markle until my Mom told me about the engagement. She told me that Markle is an actress from America, is biracial, is a divorcee, and advocates for women’s rights.

As a 17-year-old, well beyond the age of making mud pies, instead of being jealous of their marriage, I am able to see the value in a strong biracial female holding such a historically acclaimed title. Although, if I’m being completely honest, I’m still a little jealous.

This news gave me hope for the future of our world. A world where minority women could get representation. A world where wives would do more than work in the kitchen, but be influential in guiding society to promote equality.

Since the announcement of Markle’s pregnancy, conversations surrounding the newlywed’s names have caught my attention and it saddens me when I continuously hear criticism of Markle old criticism stating the mismatch in appearance of the multiracial couple, and how Markle is “too ugly” to be Prince Harry’s wife. Even after the marriage, I continue to hear criticism surrounding her new British accent, or judgments based on the timing of the pregnancy. One outlet I have seen others use for this hate is social media, specifically Twitter.

*NEW COLUMN*
My EX-friend Meghan Markle is a ruthless social climbing actress who’s landed the role of her life & is determined to milk it for all she can – and that’s why the Palace poison has begun. https://t.co/Xt7qvP6DX7 pic.twitter.com/S2povc8RMA

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) December 4, 2018

#princeharry needs to get his head examined. Ewww fake horse teeth, eyelash glue on lid, grandpa features, clown brows #DuchessOfSussex #KensingtonRoyal #meghanmarkle #sohohouseMeg pic.twitter.com/Iwyp80ybB9

— msbrattyy (@msbrattyy) December 5, 2018

Although the British royal crown may be historic, the historic standard of white women marrying white men and black women marrying black men shouldn’t stand in the way of love. Anyone should be allowed to love whomever they want, regardless of race. And it is my hope that the historic significance of the incoming baby will guide the future to be a more accepting environment for all.

Oracle After Hours is a bi-weekly series featuring short opinions columns written by editors of The Oracle.