The Royal Family has published rules for followers of its social media channels, warning that anyone who posts offensive comments will be blocked or reported to the police in the wake of escalating abuse of the Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex.

The Royal Family has issued guidelines on social media to create a "safe environment" on its Twitter and Instagram channels, urging "courtesy, kindness and respect".

Anyone who posts obscene, offensive or unintelligible content now runs the risk of being deleted, blocked or subject to legal proceedings in the most significant measures yet to protect the mental health and wellbeing of followers.

The decision to publish formal guidelines follows increasingly hostile commentary on the Royal Family's accounts, particularly on photographs published of the Cambridges and Sussexes by Kensington Palace.

On Twitter and Instagram, the comments section has regularly descended into abuse of both Duchesses, with the Duchess of Sussex subjected to racist comments on top of the sexist and offensive words aimed at both her and the Duchess of Cambridge.