Meghan Markle Returns to Instagram After 5-Year Hiatus With Video Shot by Prince Harry

Meghan Markle is back on Instagram. Following a five-year hiatus from the social media platform, the Duchess of Sussex is back on Instagram with a new handle and a new video shot by husband Prince Harry.

Sharing the first post under her new account @meghan on Jan. 1, Meghan can be seen in the video running on a beach and writing “2025” in the sand while dressed in all white. PEOPLE reports that the video was shot by the Duke of Sussex at a public beach near their Montecito, California home.

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A post shared by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (@meghan)

Additionally, Meghan’s Instagram account also updated its profile picture to feature a black-and-white shot of the royal smiling and wearing a different white dress. The return to Instagram for Meghan comes shortly after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shared a glimpse of their family, which also includes 5-year-old son Prince Archie and 3-year-old daughter Princess Lilibet, on their 2024 holiday card.

Meghan had previously hinted in August 2022 that she planned to get back on Instagram, telling The Cut, “Do you want to know a secret? I’m getting back… on Instagram.” Later in the interview, Meghan “would relay she was no longer sure she would actually return to Instagram,” but has a history of content creation extending back to her pre-royal days.

Before marrying Prince Harry in 2018, the Suits actress counted 3 million followers on Instagram and ran her lifestyle blog The Tig. The blog was shut down in April 2017, shortly before Meghan and Harry got engaged. The following January, Meghan’s social media pages were deleted.

After the royal wedding in May 2018, Meghan and Harry’s royal updates appeared under the @KensingtonRoyal accounts alongside updates about Prince William and Kate Middleton. However, in 2019, Meghan and Harry broke royal tradition by launching their own separate Instagram page, @SussexRoyal — one of the first steps in establishing their own roles apart from Harry’s older brother and his wife.

The @SussexRoyal account stopped being updated in 2020 after Harry and Meghan stepped back from their roles as senior royals, ending with a final post in March 2020. “As we can all feel, the world at this moment seems extraordinarily fragile. 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,” the couple wrote.

“What’s most important right now is the health and wellbeing of everyone across the globe and finding solutions for the many issues that have presented themselves as a result of this pandemic,” they continued. “As we all find the part we are to play in this global shift and changing of habits, we are focusing this new chapter to understand how we can best contribute. While you may not see us here, the work continues.”

The couple concluded, “Thank you to this community – for the support, the inspiration and the shared commitment to the good in the world. We look forward to reconnecting with you soon. You’ve been great! Until then, please take good care of yourselves, and of one another.”