- Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, receive their fair share of criticism. Much of it is warranted, some of it not so much.
- Despite the critics, they do have some of the most loyal followers around. Meghan’s fans go to great lengths to defend her reputation.
- Prince William may be closer to becoming King than his younger brother, but at least Harry and Meghan don’t have to buy Instagram followers, unlike Wills and Kate.
So we all know that Meghan Markle and “Simply” Harry were reportedly furious when the Queen put her foot down over them using the ‘Royal Sussex’ brand moving forward.
We also know the Queen was entirely right to do so. Harry and Meghan don’t want to be royalty, so they shouldn’t be using the title.
However, when it comes to popularity, I don’t think there is much debate that the younger Windsor is more popular. Both him and Meghan are far more interesting, almost to a fault.
Why then have Meghan and Harry trailed Kate and William when it comes to social media followers?
Are Prince William and Kate guilty of buying Instagram followers?
Step forward, the New York Times.
In what I can only describe as a thoroughly ridiculous endeavor, the New York Times took it upon themselves to investigate the great Instagram war of the House of Windsor.
According to the report:
Data generated by the media monitoring software Cision, which tracks online media mentions, found that, from the date of the announcement of Harry and Meghan’s engagement in November 2017 to January 2020, Harry and Meghan received vastly more global online attention than did William and Kate.
This trend continues in Google searches. Meghan Markle and “simply” Harry absolutely trounce the duller Kensington Royals.
Prince William and Kate aren’t even the most popular couple on their own account
That’s right, Meghan and Harry are more popular on Kate and William’s account than Kate and William.
Nine of the ten most-liked posts ever shared by either Sussex or Kensington accounts involve a combination of Harry and Meghan.
The popularity of Harry and Meghan Markle is shown in this excerpt from the report:
From the date of the @SussexRoyal debut until Harry and Meghan’s bombshell announcement this past January, @SussexRoyal’s Meghan-and-Harry-centric posts received more total likes than @KensingtonRoyal posts centered on Kate and William. According to CrowdTangle data, the Sussexes came out around 13.5 million likes ahead.
Which begs the question, if Meghan and Harry are so popular, why does William and Kate’s Instagram always seem to stay just that little bit ahead of them?
Simple. William and Kate are buying followers.
One social media expert investigating the situation commented:
Most people leveraging fake followers these days — especially at the behest of well-resourced groups or individuals — are being very careful to avoid suspicion, detection, and deletion.
Meghan Markle and Harry are the more popular couple
From the unnervingly in-depth report by the New York Times, it would appear that William and Kate aren’t just dull. They are also petty.
This article was edited by Samburaj Das.
Last modified: March 1, 2020 8:10 AM UTC
