Why Princess Eugenie Has an Instagram, but Meghan and Kate Don’t
Like many modern-day brides, Princess Eugenie is sharing wedding updates on her social media platform of choice: Instagram.
A day after Buckingham Palace issued details about her October 12 nuptials online, the British royal shared her own, more personal announcement on the platform. She posted two pictures of herself and Jack Brooksbank—one of them embracing in sunglasses, and another of them walking in Wellington boots with their backs to the camera. “Jack and I are excited to be able to invite people to watch our wedding inside the Precinct of Windsor Castle,” she wrote. The whole thing was just relatively . . . normal—which, for a family that resides in palaces and has a tiara collection, is really saying something.
In fact, Princess Eugenie’s entire account is fairly normal. Sure, it’s more demure than an average twentysomething’s—no selfies or rosé all day—but she posts throwbacks, couples photos, and snaps of her Norfolk terriers. For the World Cup, she shared a humorous clip from Friends that featured England’s unofficial World Cup motto, “It’s Coming Home.”
The whole thing is in great contrast to the accounts of her more senior cousins. William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan do technically share an Instagram, @kensingtonroyal, but it’s a tightly curated account run by their staff. Plus, when four people share one account, there’s a little less room for individual personalities to shine through.
There’s no “official” known protocol outlawing personal social media for royals, but Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, deleted hers after getting engaged to Prince Harry. So why does Eugenie have a personal account, but not Meghan, or Kate?
It boils down to the fact that Eugenie is not a working royal (aka one whose full-time job is to represent the monarchy). Although she attends high-profile events like Trooping the Colour, her day job is director at Hauser & Wirth’s London gallery, and she doesn’t have to stick to the same royal script.
Which, for royal watchers, is a fun change of pace. One of the benefits of social media is that it breaks down the walls between celebrities and their fans—Chrissy Teigen, for example, can share her struggles with parenthood and delicious recipes, then respond to questions in the comments. Most of the royals, however, still seem an arm’s length away.
Except, now, Eugenie. She shares stories about her childhood scoliosis. She pokes fun at the outfits she wore as a kid. Most of all, she hates Mondays. And what’s more relatable than that?
