Give her a follow. Meghan Markle is returning to Instagram. The former Duchess of Sussex’s public existence has been carefully curated by the Royal Family since she began dating her now-husband Prince Harry.
Now that the couple has created some distance between them and the monarchy, Meghan is ready to start sharing her life on social media again. In a new interview with New York Magazine’s The Cut, Meghan said to the reporter: “Do you want to know a secret? I’m getting back…on Instagram.”
Before her relationship with Harry went public, Meghan had amassed three million followers, sharing the kind of content you’d expect from celebrities and average Joes alike: hikes with friends, food and her dog, Guy. As the star of the hit TV show Suits, she shared candid red carpet snaps with co-stars at premieres, too. But her impending life as a member of the British royal family meant that she had to play by their rules. The only social media presence she was allowed was a joint account with Harry, Kate Middleton and Prince William @KensingtonRoyal, but she had zero control over that.
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“It was a big adjustment—a huge adjustment to go from that kind of autonomy to a different life,” she told The Cut, describing how strictly her public image was controlled. “There’s literally a structure by which if you want to release photos of your child, as a member of the family, you first have to give them to the Royal Rota,” she said. The Royal Rota is another name for the British tabloids which were particularly brutal, if not downright racist, in their coverage of Meghan when her relationship with Harry was made public. Meghan also references racist comments toward her children with Harry: son Archie, 3, and daughter Lilibet, 1. “Why would I give the very people that are calling my children the N-word a photo of my child before I can share it with the people that love my child?” she told The Cut. Meghan and Harry have since distanced themselves from royal life. In March 2021, the couple officially stepped down from their official duties as Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Image: Courtesy of Dey Street Books.
“After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,” they said in a statement at the time. “We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen.” Since their departure, Meghan has started her own podcast called Archetypes which “investigates the labels that try to hold women back.” We’re not 100 percent sure what we can expect from Meghan Markle’s social media presence 2.0 but we’re pretty excited either way.
Image: Getty Images. Design: Sasha Purdy/STYLECASTER.