Royals

Meghan Markle Wrote Her Own Instagram Captions for @SussexRoyal During Pregnancy, Book Claims

One of Harry and Meghan's "core frustrations" as part of the royal family was the "inability to speak for themselves," according to Finding Freedom

By

Stephanie Petit

Published on August 18, 2020 11:57 AM

Meghan Markle is a social media pro — and that didn't stop during her time as a senior royal.

Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, the new book about Meghan and Prince Harry, claims that the Duchess of Sussex herself was behind many of the posts on their now-defunct @SussexRoyal Instagram page.

Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand write that one of Harry and Meghan's "core frustrations" as part of the royal family was the "inability to speak for themselves."

In April 2019, Meghan and Prince Harry debuted @SussexRoyal, an Instagram page independent of the @KensingtonRoyal umbrella run by the royal family's communications team they previously shared with Prince William and Kate Middleton.

"Launching the account was a somewhat liberating experience for Meghan," an anonymous aide said in the book. "Not having a platform of her own to talk directly to the public was one of the toughest changes for her, especially after building so much of her own brand on Instagram and her blog. @SussexRoyal meant that she finally had a place to curate."

Meghan, 39, and Prince Harry, 35, were involved in selecting the blue background used in many of their posts, the book claims, as well as the decorative decision to add a white border to photos.

The book continues that "Meghan drafted a lot of the posts herself in the early days," and that the work was "one of the things that kept her occupied during her final days of pregnancy" with son Archie, 1.

PEOPLE previously noted that Meghan appeared to be behind the @SussexRoyal Instagram page, pointing to the American spelling of certain words, use of emojis and other personal touches.

Meghan made the decision to delete all of her personal social media accounts in January 2018, just a few months ahead of her royal wedding. The previous April, she shut down The Tig, her lifestyle blog.

The couple, who recently bought a house in Santa Barbara after spending time in Meghan's hometown of Los Angeles, said goodbye to their Instagram page and website in March when they formally stepped down as senior members of the royal family. Although they will be inactive, “both the Instagram account and website will remain in existence online for the foreseeable future,” a spokesperson for the couple said.

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

Earlier this month, both Meghan and Prince Harry's @SussexRoyal Instagram page and Prince Andrew's Twitter and Instagram pages were removed from royal.uk, the family's official website. Visitors to the website now see just three social media links for both Twitter and Instagram available: @TheRoyalFamily, which follows Queen Elizabeth and many other royals, @ClarenceHouse, the office of Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and @KensingtonRoyal, the office of Kate and Prince William.

Despite stepping away from public duties, Meghan, Prince Harry and Prince Andrew still have active bio pages on the royal family's website highlighting their key causes.