MEGHAN and Harry Windsor – you may know them better as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – surprised the plebs last week with a new handle on the common touch.
“Welcome to our official Instagram; we look forward to sharing the work that drives us, the causes we support, important announcements, and the opportunity to shine a light on key issues. We thank you for your support, and welcome you to @sussexroyal.”– Harry & Meghan.
So begins a royal traipse on social media which promptly broke records.
Guinness World Records said in a statement: “The official Instagram account of the Duke and the Duchess of Sussex has broken the record for the fastest time to gain one million followers on Instagram, after the account reached one million followers in just five hours and 45 minutes.”
The account seized the title from K-pop star Kang Daniel, after he attracted one million followers in fewer than 12 hours on January 2. The title was previously held by Pope Francis, who surpassed the one million follower milestone in 12 hours after he joined on March 19, 2016. Football star David Beckham was the record-holder before that, securing one million followers within 24 hours on May 2, 2015.
Meghan and Harry, who only follow 23 people on Instagram, including Princess Eugenie and her dad Prince Andrew, are clearly aiming to get down with the kids/people.
In doing so, they nicked their Instagram name, which sounds like a Rangers supporters club, from a driving instructor from Worthing.
Kevin Keiley had used @sussexroyal for three years because he supports Reading FC – nicknamed the Royals – and he lives in West Sussex.
But he discovered Instagram had changed his handle and given his name to the royal couple without asking him. Instagram says the account was inactive.
Keiley, who says he’s “annoyed but flattered” admits that he didn’t have that many followers. He says no-one from the royal family or from Instagram contacted him beforehand to ask if they could make the change. It obviously just happened by royal decree.
Most of the royal family eschew social media, however Princess Eugenie and Sarah Ferguson use Instagram and Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have a Twitter account run by Kensington Palace. Meghan and Harry are seen to be branching out on their own, having set up a separate office, and it has been suggested that this is another signal of the divide between the house of Cambridge and the house of Sussex.
It has been reported that Meghan, who is expecting the couple’s first child in a few weeks, will not pose with the new baby on the royal steps as Kate has done. Who knows, perhaps we’ll have the birth delivered on Instagram? Now that would go one better. Serve them right for not letting her wear Diana’s jewels.
So, who are these millions of Sussex loyal following Meghan and Harry doing royal stuff on Instagram? Perhaps it’s a new trend – socialite media.
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