SussexRoyal Instagram account ‘deleted negative comments’

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were today accused of deleting criticism on their Instagram page about their decision to step down as senior royals.

Social media users told Prince Harry and Meghan to ‘grow up’, while others said their team removing unsupportive views was a ‘sign of what’s coming’.

It comes after the couple issued a bombshell statement that they plan to ‘step back’ as senior royals and divide their time between the UK and North America.

The Duke and Duchess did not consult the Queen or the Prince of Wales about the contents of the statement before issuing it on Instagram last night.

They have attracted widespread criticism on social media, but some Instagram users claimed their negative comments had been deleted from the page.

One, vjudge007, said: ‘Why have my comments been deleted? I wasn’t rude or offensive. You decided to use social media to make this announcement and then decide you’ll only listen to what you want to hear – grow up.’

Another, ellebee123123, added: ‘Mine too… but most of comments are negative so they mustn’t be able to keep up the deleting.’

A third, hcryland, said: ‘No need to delete my comment or others. If you choose this forum to place this announcement in this manner, criticism and praise is to be expected. Grow up.’ 

Prince Harry and Meghan are pictured during a visit to Canada House in London on Tuesday

But others came to the royal couple’s defence, with cryan_ryan78 telling a critic: ‘Would you keep negative posts random strangers wrote on your post?’ 

Positive posts included some saying ‘wishing you all the best’, ‘good luck to the both of you’ and ‘you are both loved and many prayers for your new journey in life’. 

In March 2019 it was announced Harry and Meghan would split their household from Kensington Palace, setting up their own at Buckingham Palace with a separate head of communications and a new Instagram presence, SussexRoyal. 

The message about their future plans was posted on the couple’s official Instagram page and referred readers to a website, sussexroyal.com, for information. 

It is not clear if someone is manually deleting the negative messages on Instagram, or whether this is down to an algorithm over which the account has no control. 

Positive posts under the message included some saying ‘wishing you all the best’, ‘good luck to the both of you’ and ‘you are both loved and many prayers for your new journey in life’

Prince Harry and Meghan’s security detail head to Frogmore House in Windsor today

To delete a comment on an Instagram post, users can tap the comment button, then swipe left on the comment – before hitting the rubbish bin sign to remove it. 

Instagram has offered a comment filter since September 2016 which removed comments featuring words and phrases it specifically identified as offensive.

It then upgraded this function in June 2017 by using AI machine learning to identify comments that seem offensive, meaning it can take into account the reply’s context.

A spokesman for the Duke and Duchess was contacted for comment by MailOnline.