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It happened sometime within the past couple of days. In a development that shook the very foundations of the royal-celebrity-media axis, the second digit on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Instagram account, @sussexroyal, changed from a zero to a one, nudging the duke and duchess into the 11 million-follower zone. Just a few weeks ago, the uptick may have gone mostly unnoticed, but in the news cycle that has exploded in the wake of Harry and Meghan’s partial defection from the royal household, it was a moment that warranted breathless media coverage, including one of those eyeball devouring Daily Mail stories with a million photos and subheads. What made it particularly newsy was that @sussexroyal, which has become the definitive platform for Harry and Meghan’s messaging since its creation last April, has now caught up with @kensingtonroyal, the official Instagram account of Prince William and Kate Middleton. As my colleague Kenzie Bryant noted, “In less than a year, the Sussexes made up the difference, plus a few mil. They are now tied for the most followers for a British royal account.”
Beyond the obvious sibling rivalry, of course, the Instagram increase was also a sign of the intense interest Harry and Meghan have managed to generate, not just since going rogue a couple of weeks ago, but in the past year overall. There’s a combination of factors at play: their reportedly tumultuous integration into the royal apparatus; their emotional and intensifying war with the tabloid press; the extent to which they are effectively leveraging their worldwide celebrity to disrupt the monarchy, to advocate for causes close to their heart—climate change, HIV, mental health—and, above all, to grab their own destiny by the reins.
Part of the Sussexes’ break with the family has to do with their stated goal of financial independence. Aside from paying back the $3.1 million worth of renovations they made to Frogmore Cottage, a reimbursement that is part of an exit package brokered with Queen Elizabeth, they have a wildly expensive lifestyle. (Private jets, tabloid lawsuits, etc.) And there’s no shortage of charities salivating to accept their bequests, such as those that have previously benefited from Harry and Meghan’s royal largesse. (Smart Works, Hubb Community Kitchen, Halo Trust.)
But how exactly do a now-Canada-dwelling former television actor and a guy who was born with a sapphire-encrusted spoon in his mouth make money in the modern economy? The current thinking is that Harry and Meghan are poised to replicate the Obama playbook, with the potential to build out a media portfolio similar to the one that has netted tens of millions of dollars for the former first couple through publishing contracts, stadium tours, and production deals with streaming-entertainment titans like Netflix and Spotify. As one London-based talent agent suggested this week to the Associated Press, “They are 100% more valuable than the Obamas. The Obamas aren’t royal. They are.”
Reports that the Obamas were advising Harry and Meghan turned out to be hogwash. But the tea leaves do seem to suggest ambition in the media space. Meghan is an erstwhile lifestyle blogger who knows her way around Hollywood, after all, and Harry has already dipped his toe in the water with a mental health documentary series he is coexecutive-producing with Oprah Winfrey. There was that video of Harry schmoozing with Disney chief Bob Iger, and Ted Sarandos seemed to open the door during a recent event in Los Angeles. Asked if Netflix would be interested in doing something with the couple, Sarandos told the Press Association news agency, “Who wouldn’t be interested? Yes, sure.”
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