Prince Harry and Meghan Markle bid their social media presence goodbye in March 2020, soon after stepping down from their roles as senior members of the Royal Family last year.
“As we can all feel, the world at this moment seems extraordinarily fragile,” they captioned the goodbye post on the official Sussex Royal IG account. “Yet we are confident that every human being has the potential and opportunity to make a difference—as seen now across the globe, in our families, our communities and those on the front line—together we can lift each other up to realise the fullness of that promise.”
However, although the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been busy with various projects and working to set up their charitable foundation, Archewell, the past year, one source says not to expect them to be returning to social media…ever.
According to The Times of London, it’s “very unlikely” that Prince Harry and Meghan will return to social media because to the “hate” they’ve encountered – ergo, they will no longer use platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Meghan actually opened up about her experience with cyberbullying in an October 2020 episode of the Teenage Therapy podcast.
“I’m told that in 2019 I was the most trolled person in the entire world, male or female,” she said. “Now, eight months of that I wasn’t even visible, I was on maternity leave or with a baby. But what was able to just be manufactured and churned out, it’s almost unsurvivable, that’s so big, you can’t think of what that feels like, because I don’t care if you’re 15 or 25, if people are saying things about you that aren’t true, what that does to your mental and emotional health is so damaging.”
In an event later that same month, she also shared why she chose to distance herself from social media.
“For my own self-preservation, I have not been on social media for a very long time,” Meghan said at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit. “I had a personal account years ago, which I closed down and then we had one through the institution and our office that was in the U.K. that wasn’t managed by us — that was a whole team — and so I think that comes with the territory for the job you have.”
“I’ve made a personal choice to not have any account, so I don’t know what’s out there, and in many ways that’s helpful for me,” she continued. She also expressed her worry about people who “have become obsessed with it.”
And, according to The Sun, social media is not all they want to quit.
The outlet reports that the couple want a more permanent agreement to continue living as non-working royals in California. The so-called “Megxit” expires March 31 of this year, but they’re planning to speak with the senior royals via Zoom in January to try and sort out extending their arrangement for another year.
However, they are reportedly flying back to the U.K. in June to celebrate the Queen’s 95th birthday with the rest of the royal family in June. The Sunday Times reports that Meghan and Harry will attend the Trooping the Colour parade since it’s both an official and a family occasion.
