Meghan Markle is back on Instagram: Duchess launches new account with first post of her running on the beach near Montecito filmed by Prince Harry
Meghan Markle has teased a new project after posting an Instagram video of herself at the beach.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, has shared her first clip on the Instagram account – where she has 112,000 followers – simply titled @meghan.
It had long been rumoured that the account belonged to her, having been set up more than a year ago.
Now the mother-of-two has confirmed the profile is hers, by posting a clip walking towards the shoreline at the beach near Montecito, where she lives with Prince Harry, and children Archie, five, and Lilibet, three.
It’s believed Harry was behind the camera of the new video of the Duchess, which was shared to her 132,000 followers.
In the clip, Meghan is seen drawing the digits of the New Year – ‘2025’ – into the sand, perhaps hinting an upcoming project.
A beaming Meghan is then filmed running off camera as she giggles.
As well as her first post, the @meghan account also updated its profile picture to a black-and-white shot of Meghan smiling and wearing and elegant white dress.
Meghan Markle has teased a new project with an elusive Instagram video of herself a the beach
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, has shared her first clip on the Instagram account – where she has 112,000 followers – simply titled @meghan
The return to Instagram comes after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex vowed never to return to social media after claiming to have dealt with an ‘almost unsurvivable’ amount of abuse.
Meghan originally shut down 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 as she has not used them for some time she has taken the decision 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 frequently spoken out about the abuse they received online, despite continuing to use online media to promote their ‘progressive’ new roles in the US – including most-recently via a podcast on Spotify.
But in 2023 it was revealed that Meghan had set up an Instagram account – although today is the first time she has posted anything on it.
The Duchess secured the account before launching her podcast all the way back in August 2022.
At the time a source said: ‘Meghan was set to go live on Insta, but changed her mind shortly before she launched her “Archetypes” podcast, so it’s just sitting there now.’
Meghan also shared a new profile picture of her on the account, smiling while wearing an elegant white dress.
Pictured is the previous profile picture of her Instagram account
In 2023, Meghan revealed how she was eager to make a comeback to social media, telling The Cut: ‘Do you want to know a secret? I’m getting back…on Instagram.’
She had been teasing her return for months, with news that the @meghan handle was hers creating a frenzy of followers despite the account lying empty without a single post.
Experts previously predicted Meghan could rake in $1million (£790,000) per post as ‘an absolute minimum’. They also anticipate that her account launch could see her become one of the top 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 picture of pink dahlias.
It is unclear how Meghan was able to get hold of her unique username as Instagram’s guidelines state handles are given on a ‘first-come, first-served basis’. A single-name handle such as @meghan is rare, with most users needing to include surnames and numbers to find handles that haven’t already been taken.
It is also unknown whether the handle was held by a previous user, but celebrities are able to buy an Instagram name.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attends a roundtable discussion on gender equality with The Queens Commonwealth Trust (QCT) and One Young World at Windsor Castle on October 25, 2019 in Windsor
Meghan, 43, has made her comeback to the photo-sharing app Instagram having stepped away in 2020. It’s believed her first video was filmed by Prince Harry
The account shows the username has been changed once since it was created.
In 2019 the royal couple caused controversy when they started 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 Reading FC fan – nicknamed The Royals – and was from Sussex.
But he said it was ‘stolen’ from him and given Instagram said his handle was given away because the account lay inactive, but Mr Keiley said no one contacted him about it.
Akshay Makadiya, founder of digital marketing agency RankLane, said: ‘Celebrities often have an easier time obtaining specific usernames on platforms like Instagram. Given her global fame, there are several methods Meghan could have potentially obtained the handle through.
‘The handle might have been in use by another individual with the same name or for other purposes. Meghan’s team could have reached out to the original user and negotiated a transfer.
‘This could involve a financial transaction. Or if the account was inactive or perceived as ‘squatting’ (holding on to a username without genuine use, especially with intentions to profit from it later), Instagram’s policies could have facilitated its release to Meghan.’
Social media expert Eric Schiffer previously told the Mail On Sunday: ‘I don’t think Meghan coming back to Instagram will surprise anyone. She has a new talent manager and this is the next logical step. You have celebrities like the Kardashians who can command $1million and up for a single post promoting a product. There is no reason Meghan couldn’t be earning those sorts of fees.’
