Royal watchers were shocked when Meghan Markle made a subtle return to Instagram in August 2023.
Many questioned whether or not the account was actually belonged to the Duchess of Sussex. But the mysterious account with the handle @meghan went viral practically overnight, amassing well over 100,000 followers in August.
The account was first created in June 2022, with no posts or activity of any other kind. But royal fans believed it was Meghan due to the profile picture, pink peonies — Meghan’s favourite flower.
Years ago, Meghan wrote on her now-deleted lifestyle blog, The Tig, that peonies made her “endlessly happy”. Pink peonies also heavily featured at her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry.
In August 2022, Meghan also told The Cut, “Do you want to know a secret? I’m getting back…on Instagram.
The first post was shared January 2, confirming suspicions that this account did in fact belong to the Duchess.
The first post was a video of Meghan, dressed in a white button up and pants, running down the beach to write “2025” in the sand.
Since then, Meghan has shared loved-up photos with Prince Harry, snippets from her TV show Love, Meghan, and flashback photos.
The most loved photos are the ones of Prince Harry and Meghan with their two children: Archie and Lilibet. In June, she shared a never-before seen video of the Duke and a pregnant Duchess dancing, trying to encourage the bub to arrive.
In these images, however, the kids faces are never shown. During an interview with American podcaster Hasan Minhaj, the Duke was asked, “should parents put photos of their kids online?”
To which Harry responded: “You should be really really worried, concerned and cautious about putting photos of your kids online. Especially now with this surge in unregulated AI. You just don’t know how it’s going to be used.”
Prince Harry and Meghan have discussed getting their children phones, but social media remains the primary concern.
“Because of what we know now, we would be way more cautious and hesitant about allowing our kids to have access to social media,” he said on the podcast, before suggesting “old-school” phone as an alternative to smartphones.
As part of protecting not only their children, but Meghan herself, she has always blocked fans from commenting on her social media page. While in D.C. for the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, Meghan shared some insight into her decision.
“There are certain things that I have done, just for my own self preservation, but also that I’ve applied to the brand and for the people that are incredibly supportive,” she said, according to Hello!.
“I know the question can be around naysayers, but if you really see the groundswell of support that surrounds the brand and me, that’s what I feel the most, and that’s what I appreciate. But by design, I also recognise that a lot of those people aren’t going to my page to see negativity, and so not just protecting myself or the people that work with me, but also the supporters. So I don’t have the comment section on.”
Meghan has always loved sharing bits and pieces of her life to the outside world. But this came to a swift end after she started dating Prince Harry, and therefore her royal duties began.
