Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit social media

Duke and Duchess of Sussex abandon platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, as part of their new “progressive role” in America.

A source close to the Sussexes said they were disillusioned by the “hate” they encountered on social media and had “no plans” to use it for their new Archewell Foundation or in a personal capacity. Picture: Instagram/Sussexroyal

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have abandoned social media and will no longer use platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

Harry and Meghan, who amassed more than 10 million Instagram followers as working royals, are rejecting social media as part of their new “progressive role” in America.

A source close to the couple said they had “no plans” to use social media for their new Archewell Foundation and were “very unlikely” to return to platforms in a personal capacity.

The couple are understood to have become disillusioned by the “hate” they encountered on social media. Meghan has spoken about the “almost unsurvivable” experience of online trolling.

Meghan and Harry quit social media

News of their decision emerged after Donald Trump was “permanently suspended” from Twitter on Friday “due to the risk of further incitement of violence”. Michelle Obama tweeted on Thursday that Silicon Valley companies should stop enabling the president’s “monstrous behaviour”.

The decision by the Sussexes, who announced a year ago that they were stepping back from official duties, signals another marked departure from royal life. The Queen, Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and other senior royals often use Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to promote their official and charitable work.

Queen on various social media platforms

Before her marriage to Harry in 2018, Meghan had a prolific social media presence, with 1.9 million followers on Instagram, 350,000 Twitter followers and 800,000 likes on her Facebook page. She also had a lifestyle website and blog, The Tig. The former actress used the sites for her commercial fashion and beauty partnerships, to promote her friends’ businesses, to offer food and travel tips and to post holiday selfies from her Toronto home.

Shortly after reports appeared in 2016 that Meghan and Harry were dating, she posted a cryptic image on Instagram of two bananas “spooning” in an embrace, with the caption “Sleep tight xx”.

In April 2019, Harry and Meghan reinvigorated the royal family’s online presence and broke world records when their @sussexroyal Instagram account amassed more than a million followers in less than six hours.

harry and meghan working royals on social

Since their move to America, the Sussexes have been increasingly outspoken about the pitfalls of social media. Meghan, 39, has spoken about being targeted by trolls.

On the Teenager Therapy podcast, she said the online abuse she experienced while pregnant with their son, Archie, had left her feeling “isolated” and “othered”.

“I’m told that in 2019 I was the most trolled person in the entire world, male or female,” she said. “If people are saying things about you that aren’t true, what that does to your mental and emotional health is so damaging … That’s so big, you can’t even think of what that feels like.”

In early 2019, while the Sussexes shared Kensington Palace’s social media accounts with the Cambridges, Meghan received more than 5,000 abusive and racist tweets.

Analysts said the decision last week by Twitter and Facebook to suspend Trump’s accounts was an acknowledgment that they are media companies rather than technology companies.

Lionel Barber, a former Financial Times editor, tweeted: “[This] belated clampdown finally settles it: platforms are publishers, with all the responsibilities that come along with that privilege.”

The Trump Twitter ban and Facebook’s belated clampdown finally settles it: platforms are publishers, with all the responsibilities that come along with that privilege

— Lionel Barber (@lionelbarber) January 9, 2021

Harry and Meghan are poised to continue promoting their work in online video and television appearances, through selected publications and via their Archewell website. It features images of their mothers with the phrase “compassion in action”. Their foundation has also formed a partnership with the Centre for Humane Technology, to back research into developing “safer, more compassionate online communities”.

The couple may still benefit from social media, though. The talk show host Oprah Winfrey, a neighbour in California who is making a mental health documentary with Harry, took to Instagram last month to promote Clevr Blends, an organic, vegan brand of “wellness lattes”.

The post to her 19.2 million followers gushed about the products she received from Meghan.

Soon afterwards, Meghan announced that she had invested in the company.

The Times