The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, on Tuesday, 2 April, launched their separate account, @sussexroyal. Up until now, the royal couple shared an Instagram account with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, @KensingtonRoyal.
Prince William and Kate welcomed the new Instagram account by posting a picture of Prince Harry and Meghan with the message:
Welcome to Instagram, @SussexRoyal!
Follow @SussexRoyal for more on the work of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Follow @KensingtonRoyal for more on the work of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The announcement comes after earlier this month, the Queen granted Prince Harry and Meghan Markle a separate household, as reported by BuzzFeed News.
With their exit, @KensingtonRoyal now only features Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and their three children.
This gives both the couples a chance to create their individual images and journeys henceforth.
In their very first post on @sussexroyal, Prince Harry and Meghan had a message to share with the world:
“Welcome to our official Instagram; we look forward to sharing the work that drives us, the causes we support, important announcements, and the opportunity to shine a light on key issues. We thank you for your support, and welcome you to @sussexroyal.”
The account will be used to showcase the causes they believe in and also their travels.
World Record Broken!
Within six hours of the activation of their account, @sussexroyal broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to gain one million followers on Instagram.
They managed to garner a following of one million subscribers within five hours and forty-five minutes. Since, then the numbers have more than tripled and the current standing of followers is 3.5 million followers.
As per the Guinness World Records, the previous world record was held by K-Pop star Kang Daniel who achieved one million followers in 11 hours and 36 minutes, in January, this year.
Since the launch of the account, three posts have been put up. The two latest posts that have been added show Prince Harry’s meetings and work dedicated towards mental health and the Armed Forces.
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, went off of social media completely before marrying Prince Harry. She is expected to give birth to their first child very soon and the Instagram account is currently the only social media account that would provide a personal message about the event.
(Inputs from BuzzFeed News and Guinness World Records)
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