Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, surprised many people when she rejoined Instagram on New Year’s Day. The former actress was last active on the social media site several years ago.
Here is all we know about Meghan Markle’s return to Instagram.
Meghan Markle rejoins Instagram, posts New Year Video
Meghan Markle uploaded a video on Instagram marking her return to the social media site. The video was shot by her husband Prince Harry at a beach near their Montecito, California home.
In the clip, the former Suits star is seen running toward the shore, clad in a white top and pants. She approached the edge of the shore and simply wrote 2025 on the sand. After that she was seen running to the side, giggling. The video had comments disabled.
As of writing, Markle has garnered over 700k followers on the account. Markle previously hinted at her Instagram return in an interview with The Cut two years ago. “Do you want to know a secret? “I’m getting back…on Instagram.”
The Duchess of Sussex previously had 3 million followers on her old Instagram account. She had deactivated this account and her other existing social media accounts in January 2018, following her engagement to Prince Harry in November 2017. A Palace source revealed to People at the time that Markle’s decision to deactivate it stemmed from being inactive on the sites.
Following this, she became part of the joint Kensington Royal family account alongside Harry, Kate Middleton and Prince William. However, she and Harry later launched their own joint Instagram account Sussex Royal, which reportedly discontinued uploads in 2020.
In an appearance on SXSW 2024, Markle reflected on the impact of social media, saying she kept her distance from it for her own “well-being.” She added that the majority of the social media bullying she experienced was when she was pregnant with her children Archie and Lilibet.
