Meghan Markle’s account is now verified with a blue tick, after she made a dramatic return to social media with a video of her laughing on the beach near Montecito.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, shared her first clip on the instagram account today, simply captioning it ‘@meghan’.
Prince Harry was behind the camera for the new video, which sparked an online frenzy as tens of thousands of people followed within minutes, boosting his fan count from 115,000 to nearly 170,000.
The profile was long rumored to belong to him after the account was created in June 2022, but it remained empty. He then teased fans again in 2023 when he declared that he was “getting back on Instagram.”
Now, the mother of two has confirmed that the profile is hers by posting a clip walking towards the California beach coast, where she lives with Prince Harry and her children Archie, five, and Lilibet, three.
The move is a big U-turn for the Duchess and is understood to be part of a new chapter for the couple and their lives in America, as she and Harry previously quit social media after stepping down from royal duties.
In her new clip, Meghan is seen drawing the digits of the New Year – ‘2025’ – in the sand, perhaps hinting at an upcoming project.
Meghan Markle’s account is now verified with a blue tick, after she made a dramatic return to social media with a video of her laughing on the beach near Montecito.
The Duchess is then seen running off camera, laughing, in footage believed to have been filmed by Prince Harry.
A beaming duchess is then filmed running off camera while laughing.
In addition to its first post, the @meghan account also updated its profile photo with a black and white photo of Meghan smiling and wearing an elegant white dress.
The return to Instagram comes after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex vowed to never return to social media after claiming to have dealt with an “almost insurmountable” amount of abuse.
Meghan originally closed all of her social media accounts in January 2018, just after getting engaged to Prince Harry.
“Ms. Markle is grateful to everyone who has followed her social media accounts over the years, however, since she has not used them for some time, she has made the decision to close them,” a source said at the time. from Kensington Palace.
In 2020, Meghan and Harry stopped posting to their Sussex Royal Instagram and Twitter accounts.
The royal couple have frequently spoken out about the abuse they received online, despite continuing to use online media to promote their new “progressive” roles in the US, including most recently via a podcast on Spotify.
But in 2023 it was revealed that Meghan had created an Instagram account, although today is the first time she has posted anything on it.
The photo shows the previous profile photo of his Instagram account.
The duchess secured the account before launching her podcast in August 2022.
At the time, a source said: “Meghan was ready to go on Insta, but changed her mind shortly before launching her “Archetypes” podcast, so she’s there now.”
In 2023, Meghan revealed how eager she was to return to social media, telling The Cut: ‘Do you want to know a secret? I’m going back… to Instagram.’
She had been teasing his return for months, with news that the name @meghan was hers, sparking a fan frenzy despite the account being empty without a single post.
Experts previously predicted Meghan could rake in $1m (£790,000) per post as “an absolute minimum”. They also anticipate that the launch of her account could make her one of the ten highest-paid influencers in the world.
The account was first created in June 2022. It had no biographical information and only a profile photo of pink dahlias.
It’s unclear how Meghan was able to get her unique username, as Instagram guidelines state that handles are given on a first-come, first-served basis. A single-name identifier like @meghan is rare, as most users need to include last names and numbers to find identifiers that haven’t already been used.
It is also not known if the handle was held by a previous user, but celebrities can purchase an Instagram name.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attends a gender equality roundtable with The Queens Commonwealth Trust (QCT) and One Young World at Windsor Castle on October 25, 2019 in Windsor.
The account shows that the username has been changed once since it was created.
In 2019, the royal couple caused controversy when they opened their @sussexroyal Instagram account.
Football fan Kevin Keiley, from West Sussex, had used the handle for around three years, creating it because he was a fan of Reading FC, nicknamed The Royals, and was from Sussex.
But he said it was “stolen” and since Instagram said his username was given away because the account was inactive, but Keiley said no one contacted him about it.
Akshay Makadiya, founder of digital marketing agency RankLane, said: “Celebrities often find it easier to obtain specific usernames on platforms like Instagram. Given her global fame, there are several methods by which Meghan could have gained control. .
‘The identifier could have been used by another person with the same name or for other purposes. Meghan’s team could have contacted the original user and negotiated a transfer.
‘This could involve a financial transaction. Or if the account was inactive or perceived as ‘squatting’ (maintaining a username without genuine use, especially with the intention of profiting from it later), Instagram’s policies could have made it easier to hand it over to Meghan.
Social media expert Eric Schiffer previously told the Mail On Sunday: “I don’t think Meghan’s return to Instagram will surprise anyone.” You have a new talent manager and this is the next logical step. You have celebrities like the Kardashians who can charge $1 million or more for a single post promoting a product. “There is no reason why Meghan can’t earn that kind of fee.”
MailOnline has contacted the Duchess’ representative for comment.