Meghan Markle’s surprise return to Instagram on New Year’s Day has sparked backlash, with royal expert Charles Rae criticizing her debut post as “ridiculous” and accusing her of using social media for a “money-making exercise.”
The Duchess of Sussex posted a playful video on her new Instagram account, reportedly filmed by Prince Harry, which has quickly amassed nearly four million likes. Despite the warm reception from her followers, Rae took issue with the timing of Meghan’s return to social media, given the couple’s previous decision to step back from platforms due to alleged abuse.
Rae questioned the hypocrisy of their actions, telling GB News, “I honestly haven’t got a clue what she’s doing now. I would have thought we should have had the theme tune from Jaws as she was running down to the water there.” He continued, “They [Harry and Meghan] came off social media because they were getting unparalleled abuse.
They’ve spent the last few years complaining about social media.” Rae also highlighted Harry’s previous criticism of social media platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram, which are both owned by Meta. “Harry spent a lot of time saying spiteful things, nasty things about Facebook, which is owned by Meta, which also owns Instagram.
So I don’t quite understand where they’re coming from,” he said. Explaining why he thinks Meghan has returned to the platform, Rae speculated, “Certain influencers earn an awful lot of money from using Instagram. Talking about figures, whether this is true, it’s something like £790,000 that she could earn per post.”
He added, “It’s another moneymaking exercise by them, and if they make money, fine. If they don’t, well, it’ll be another failure.” While Meghan’s Instagram post has captured attention, the royal expert’s remarks have added fuel to the ongoing debate about the couple’s relationship with social media and their public image.