Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new Instagram account has broken the record for the fastest time to achieve1, 000,000 followers on Instagram.
The account, named sussexroyal, was set up on Tuesday 2 April and reached the one million milestones in only five hours and forty five minutes. Since then, the account following has doubled, and currently stands at 3.3 million followers.
The account has only one post so far, which has already gained over 758,000 likes. Uploaded at 15:16 GMT on 2 April, it introduces the account as the “Official Instagram for their royal highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Sussex”.
The gallery post also included pictures of the royal couple together, as well as pictures of causes the couple are passionate about, including conservation and the British armed forces.
The caption reads: ‘”Welcome to our official Instagram; we look forward to sharing the work that drives us, the cause’s 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.”- Harry & Meghan.’
The account has received widespread media attention – and the post has received comments from the likes of Instagram itself.
“Ummm. Hello! Welcome We are so happy you are here.” they commented, leading to 11,291 comment likes and 373 replies.
According to journalist Benjamin Wareing, the rush of followers to the account caused Instagram to crash momentarily due to the unprecedented user volume.
The flurry of action may be fueled by the fact that Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, deleted all her personal social media accounts ahead of her wedding to Harry in May 2018. This account is her first presence on social media since joining the British royal family.
The royal couple have taken the title from K-Pop star Kang Daniel, who achieved 1 million followers in eleven hours thirty six minutes – double the quantity of time it took Harry and Meghan. The 22-year-old acquired the title in January after posting a selfie with the caption ‘HELLO’.