Fans have spotted a gaffe in Meghan Markle’s new Instagram video, which appears to highlight the fact that she filmed her ‘perfect’ beach clip more than once.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, shared her first clip to her account — using the username @meghan — around 8 a.m. Montecito time on Wednesday.
The clip showed the former senior working royal running barefoot towards the tide of a sandy California beach.
Meghan is then seen drawing sticking the near-perfect italic numbers of the new year – “2025” – into the sand, perhaps hinting at an upcoming project.
However, eagle-eyed fans noticed that this wasn’t the first time the mother of two had written the numbers.
Early on in the video, as Meghan tried to find the best place to write the numbers, followers noticed her walking past another “2025” written in the sand, along with some footprints.
It can be seen in the left corner, perhaps indicating that she filmed the clip multiple times to get a flawless shot.
A beaming Duchess is then filmed running off camera while giggling.
Eagle-eyed fans noticed that Meghan had filmed the video earlier, when they noticed another attempt to write 2025 in the sand (left)
Prince Harry was behind the camera of the new video, which caused a stir online as tens of thousands of people followed him within minutes, boosting the account to 659,000 in less than a day.
Meghan now has a new blue checkmark after having her new account verified in the app on Thursday.
According to Metaa verified badge means that ‘an account has been verified based on their activity in our products and the information or documents they provide’.
“After verification, public figures, celebrities and brands who meet certain account and eligibility requirements will no longer be allowed to change their account username,” the report continued.
‘Authentication cannot be transferred to another account. Instagram accounts that impersonate public figures or other people violate our community standards and are not allowed on Instagram.”
The profile has long been rumored to be hers after the account was created in June 2022 but remained empty. She then teased fans again in 2023 when she declared that she was “getting back on Instagram.”
The clip saw the former senior working royal running barefoot towards the tide of a Californian sandy beach before writing a near-perfect cursive 2025 in the sand
Meghan Markle’s account is now verified with a blue check mark – after she made a dramatic return to social media with a video of herself laughing on the beach at Montecito
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, now has a new blue tick after sharing her first clip on the app yesterday, where her handle is simply @meghan
Pictured is the previous profile photo from her Instagram account
Now the mum-of-two has confirmed the profile is hers, posting a video as she walks towards the shoreline of the beach in California, where she lives with Prince Harry and children Archie, five, and Lilibet, three.
The move marks a huge turnaround for the Duchess and is believed to be part of a new chapter for the couple and their lives in America, with her and Harry previously leaving social media after quitting their royal duties.
In addition to her initial post, the @meghan account also updated its profile photo to 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 never to return to social media after claiming they suffered an “almost insurmountable” amount of abuse.
Meghan originally shut down all of her social media accounts in January 2018, just after she got engaged to Prince Harry.
“Ms Markle is grateful to everyone who has followed her social media accounts over the years, but as she has not used them for some time she has decided to close them,” a Kensington Palace source said at the time.
In 2020, Meghan and Harry stopped posting to their Sussex Royal Instagram and Twitter accounts.
The royal couple have often spoken out about the abuse they have suffered online, despite continuing to use online media to promote their “progressive” new roles in the US – most recently via a podcast on Spotify.
But in 2023 it was announced that Meghan had set up an Instagram account – although today is the first time she has posted on it.
The Duchess secured the account before launching her podcast all the way back in August 2022.
The Duchess secured the account before launching her podcast all the way back in August 2022. Pictured in December
In 2019, the royal couple caused controversy when they started their @sussexroyal Instagram account. Both pictured in May
A source said at the time: “Meghan was going to go live on Insta but changed her mind shortly before launching her podcast ‘Archetypes’ so it’s just up there now.”
In 2023, Meghan revealed how she was keen to make a comeback on social media, telling The Cut: ‘Want to know a secret? I’ll be back…on Instagram.’
She had been teasing her return for months with the news that the @meghan handle was hers, creating a frenzy of followers despite the account being empty without a single post.
Experts previously predicted Meghan could rake in $1million (£790,000) per post as ‘a bare minimum’. They also expect 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 bio information and only had a profile photo of pink dahlias.
It’s unclear how Meghan was able to obtain her unique username, as Instagram guidelines state that the data is given on a first-come, first-served basis. A single-name handle, such as @meghan, is rare, with most users having to add last names and numbers to find handles that haven’t been used yet.
It is also unknown whether the handle was held by a previous user, but celebrities can purchase an Instagram name.
The account shows that the username has been changed once since it was created.
MailOnline has contacted a representative of the Duchess for comment.