Meghan Markle has made a bold start to 2025 by making a comeback on Instagram with an account simply named "meghan." The Duchess of Sussex's first video reel, devoid of any royal titles or mention of her husband Prince Harry, features her running along a cloudy beach and etching "2025" in the wet sand before laughing and darting off camera.
The account has already amassed 1 million followers, including celebrities like Julia Fox, and appears to be centered around Meghan as an individual rather than the Sussexes as a couple. Prince Harry was conspicuously absent from the brief clip, but it is speculated that he was the one filming.
The couple, who have previously collaborated professionally, have recently been concentrating on their own separate ventures, in what has been dubbed a "professional split." A body language expert has now shared insights about the mother-of-two's "very confident but playful" return to social media.
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As Meghan, 43, continues to establish her own identity away from the formalities of palace life, Judi James told the Mirror: "Well, it looks like a very confident but playful Meghan is re-opening that Pandora's box that is social media here, posting an enigmatic little video that is more celebrity in mood than royal."
"The body language appears pinned on the person holding the camera here, as doing smiling zoomies down a beach would normally imply a desire to be chased. There's even the 'clue' of those huge footprints in the wet sand to match up with Harry's feet, so the undercurrent story seems to be that the romance is still alive in the Montecito household," reports the Mirror.
"Otherwise though, this is a view of Meghan that appears to be symbolic of freedom. Her all-white outfit and her perfectly-manicured bare feet plus the breathless giggle as she darts across the screen all seem to signal peaceful solitude and an ability to breathe again."
She continued: "The gap in her personal social media use seems to have been about privacy but here she looks happy but a little coy about opening up those doors again for some direct, peek-a-boo communication with the public in a very celebrity-based way."
"Her dilemma might have been that a lack of direct communication can lead to speculation and rumor, while some direct chats will allow her to control the narrative again. Catherine's stunning video with William and their children might have been the toe-dip in the water that proved it is possible to be royal and to share or reveal your emotions in a way you might not be able to do in public life."
Before tying the knot with Prince Harry in 2018, Meghan Markle said goodbye to her social media life, shutting down her Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts, as well as closing up her lifestyle blog The Tig, where she dished on all things food, travel, and style. But it seems like a comeback is on the cards!
In an August 2022 interview with The Cut, Meghan teased eager fans, saying: "I'm getting back … on Instagram."
This social media revival traces back to June 2022, right during the buzz of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, and Meghan’s new Insta profile has even had a previous username before settling into what it is now.
The Sussexes haven't abandoned all digital realms though – their official joint Instagram account, "sussexroyal," has a whopping nine million followers, lying dormant since they stepped back from royal duties in 2020.
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