Meghan Markle has posted her first Instagram reel as she returned to social media for the first time since getting engaged to Prince Harry in 2017.
The Duchess of Sussex launched her account on the platform on New Year’s Day with a video apparently filmed by her husband on the beach near their home in Montecito.
Dressed all in white, Meghan, 43, runs barefoot toward the waves of the Pacific Ocean then writes 2025 in the wet sand. Comments are disabled but some in the UK might reflect that the grey skies make the video look more like Troon rather than Southern California.
Her debut Insta post has already been viewed almost one million times and liked by celebrity pals including Serena Williams, Chrissy Teigen and Tan France.
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The former Suits actress was once a prolific user of social media but she stopped when she became engaged to Harry, 40, in November 2017.
Although the Royal Family have a handful of ‘official’ social media accounts, the only other ‘senior’ royal with their own personal platform is Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.
Meghan teased her plans in August 2022 when she told a podcast: “Do you want to know a secret? I’m getting back… on Instagram.” She later got hold of the @meghan handle in August 2023.
However, the account has been dormant until today. Despite this inactivity, the duchess has already acquired 243,000 followers.
It is likely to mean we will see further social media updates from Meghan as she prepares to launch her long-awaited American Riviera Orchard lifestyle brand.
Elsewhere, the Duchess of York was in Austria for the New Year after spending Christmas with her ex-husband, Prince Andrew. The pair holed up at Royal Lodge after Andrew opted to avoid the Royal Family’s traditional festive gathering at Sandringham.
In a video posted on both Instagram and X, Sarah Ferguson said: “Hello from Austria from Altaussee. A very very happy new year to you all, and thank you. Just huge gratitude, huge love.”
The duchess added: “You can see it’s minus seven out here”, as she blew three times down the camera to show her breath misting in the Alpine air.
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