Harry and Meghan gain 500k followers after announcing Megxit on Instagram, tail William and Kate by 200k
Even since they announced that they will be stepping back as senior members of the royal family, the popularity of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Instagram page has shot up drastically.
On Wednesday, January 9, the Duke ad Duchess of Sussex made their historic decision public on their official social media page @SussexRoyal.
“We intend to step back as senior members of the royal family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen,” they said. “It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honor our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages."
At the dawn of a new year, the couple had already celebrated hitting 10 million followers on the platform. In the following week, they acquired 100,000 followers.
However, after the couple used the page to make the unprecedented announcement, they gained another 500,000 followers in just four days, putting them at 10.6 million, just 200,000 shy of Prince William and Kate Middleton's Kensington Royal account—which boasts 10.8 million.
The decision to set up their head of communications and having Instagram presence separate from Kensington Royal's social media team was made by Harry and Meghan back in March 2019.
In just six hours of them establishing an Instagram account, it became the fastest-growing profile on the platform to reach one million followers in less than six hours.
Over time, they proved that they wished to use the platform for "important announcements" and for sharing the work that "drives" them.
When it came to the most popular posts on the page, it's no surprise that baby Archie's photos were the most in-demand.
A black and white photo of Harry, Meghan and Archie greeting the Queen, Prince Philip, and the duchess' mother Doria Ragland was the most liked one with 3 million people hitting the thumbs up. The second place in the list went to the couple's post announcing the birth of their son.
