There’s a Conspiracy Theory That Kate Middleton and Prince William Are Buying Instagram Followers

From Cosmopolitan

• There’s a conspiracy theory that Prince William and Kate Middleton are buying Instagram followers.

• They have the same amount of followers as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle despite the Sussexes having more engaging content and more rapid growth rates.

Royal feud aside, we’ve gotta talk about Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Instagram followers. Specifically, how they have the exact same number of followers as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. After the New York Times pored over their Instagram accounts, there's a new theory emerging that there may be some sibling and in-law social media rivalry going on.

If you think way back to April 2019, when Meghan and Harry first broke away from the Kensington Royal Instagram account and launched Sussex Royal, you might recall how fast they reached 1 million followers. It wasn’t Jennifer-Aniston-breaks-Insta fast, but the growth rate was record-breaking at the time.

After that wave of new followers, many predicted Sussex Royal would soon overtake or “eclipse” Kensington Royal by the end of their first month on the platform. If not then, it likely would’ve happened after Meghan gave birth to Archie Harrison. Weirdly, that “eclipse” never came.

Instead, despite stats from the NYT that show Sussex Royal having more engaging content, their account crept along behind Kensington Royal until they finally caught up earlier this year. Since then, two things have happened: (1) Meghan and Harry’s account has remained a close second and (2) when they do approach the tipping point, both accounts then maintain the same amount of followers, which currently sits at 11.3 million.

I’m not a mathematician, but the odds of both accounts having the same follower count has to be pretty out there. Not even the Kardashians and Jenners have a follower count that close! Even twins Tia and Tamera Mowry and Cole and Dylan Sprouse have different amounts of followers.

The NYT suggested that the reason for this could include how many bots versus real people signed up for either account, whether or not Instagram promoted the Kensington Palace account more than the Sussex Royal account, or, even more interesting, if the royal offices engaged in a “shadow campaign” or bought followers for the Kensington Palace account when Sussex Royal caught up.

The royal family has “denied strenuously any suggestion that their social media teams had manipulated follower numbers,” but if this is true, it makes you wonder why the family would go through all that effort. It could be to appear like one couple is equally or more popular than the other, but it’s hard to really know since the royals denied it. Regardless, it’s sus!

You Might Also Like

• 16 Unexpected Fashion Rules That the Royal Family Follows

• The 8 Best Clarifying Shampoos for Getting Rid of Product Buildup

• Here's How to Flawlessly Conceal Your Acne

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK