Meghan Markle welcomed 2025 with the launch of her new Instagram page and many were quick to notice that she has disabled comments — understandably so, given her traumatic past experience with online trolls.
The Duchess of Sussex only has two entries for now on her yet already has over one million followers, who are unable to share their thoughts or feelings about her social media return.
A grand return to Instagram after seven years
The launch of her new Instagram page marks seven years since she had to close down her personal in January 2018 ahead of her wedding to Harry that year in May. Her first post is a video reportedly shot by her husband, which shows her writing “2025” on the sand at a public beach in Montecito, California, where the couple lives with their children Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, and their three dogs. Her second post is the trailer for her Netflix cooking show With Love, Meghan, which debuts on the streamer on Wednesday, Jan 15.
Over at X, fans shared their excitement to see her back on Instagram and to see her cooking show. Meanwhile, others were quick to judge her lifestyle series as a copycat (a few accused her of copying Kate Middleton in one scene on the show) and accused her of being a hypocrite for opening an Instagram page while allegedly always whining about her need for privacy.
It’s this unwanted negativity that has led Meghan to decided to disable comments on her page — the same vitriol perpetuated by online trolls that nearly drove her to commit suicide while pregnant with Archie in 2021 and had her fearing for her family’s safety due to death threats.
The worst thing is that the royal family knew intelligence 👇that Harry & Meghan had unprecedented threats against them even before they were married. They had snipers at their wedding! The family still let it’s royal reporters write hate articles on her to increase the hate. pic.twitter.com/IVGJtveCUS
— Glow Lee (@GlowanneLee) September 7, 2023
“You are making people want to kill me.” – #MeghanMarkle
— R.S. Locke / Royal Suitor (@royal_suitor) December 16, 2022
Meghan calls out the media & online trolls. I’ll call out the royal family who let this toxicity fester because of petty jealousy over who was on the front page of the paper.#HarryAndMeghanNetflix pic.twitter.com/tertIpTvVy
She talked more openly about this traumatic part of her past as a working royal in her explosive Oprah interview that same year and in the 2022 Netflix show Harry & Meghan.
Taking back control of her life
Since the experience, Harry and Meghan have fought for a safer, healthier, and better online space especially for the younger generation. Through their non-profit organization Archewell Foundation, they launched the Parents Network to parents and families who have lost loved ones to suicide due to online bullying.
The Duchess knows firsthand what it feels like to be bullied online, once sharing in an October 2020 Teenager Therapy podcast interview that she is the “most trolled person in the entire world.”
I don’t care if you’re 15, or you’re 25, if people are saying things about you that aren’t true, what that does to your mental and emotional health is so damaging… We all know what it feels like to have our feelings hurt.”
But her return to Instagram and her decision to disable comments allows Meghan to connect with people without the negativity. It’s part of her taking back control of her narrative in what psychic and horoscope expert Sunaree Ko predicted will be a transformative year for the duchess, as she will “let her actions speak louder than words,” which will “be key to changing the story around her.”
A source likewise said that Meghan is excited to return to Instagram, where she plans to spread joy and share updates on her latest projects. In the trailer for With Love, Meghan, the duchess mentioned that she was looking forward to sharing some tips and tricks on how to elevate the ordinary.
Published: Jan 7, 2025 08:40 am