Meghan Markle Reportedly Shuts Down 'Secret' Instagram Account

Royal fans were thrilled when Meghan Markle tied the knot with Prince Harry in a lavish royal wedding ceremony last May and became the Duchess of Sussex. After Meg received her new regal title, she sadly had to shut down all of her personal social media accounts but, according to a new report by the UK’s The Sun newspaper, the mom-to-be actually kept one “secret” Instagram account activated to follow what her close friends were up to online.

However, insiders revealed to the British news outlet on Sunday, January 20 that the 37-year-old decided to shut down her secret Instagram account around Christmastime 2018 “to protect her mental health” after seeing cruel comments from online haters. The messages were supposedly so mean that they left Meg feeling “isolated and alone.”

Prince-Harry-Meghan-Markle — Getty Images

“Since she shut down her public Instagram, she’d had a fake account to follow her friends. There was some really vile stuff written by social media trolls and obviously, she also saw the headlines about her,” the source explained. “It really got to her and, in the end, she had to shut down that account just before Christmas, too, to protect her mental health. She felt very isolated and alone.”

The source added that pregnant Meghan — she’s expecting her first baby with husband Harry, 34, this spring — “doesn’t feel safe” after dealing with these online haters. “She doesn’t feel safe enough to go out on her own without protection. There are certain things she’s extremely paranoid about, such as being physically attacked. Harry has fed into this — he’s hugely protective and doesn’t want her to be put at any risk so that understandable worry has made her very uneasy. There is no way she’d consider putting her personal safety and that of her unborn child at risk,” the insider said.

This interestingly isn’t the first time Meghan’s social media presence has recently made headlines. In December 2018 — around the same time Meg reportedly shut down her “secret” Instagram account — the Duchess’ old verified Instagram account seemingly reactivated for a brief period giving royal fans another glimpse at the actress’ life before she became a member of the monarchy. But royal commentator and contributor Omid Scobie later tweeted that the resurface of Meg’s account was just a glitch. “For those of you asking, Duchess Meghan is not making a return to Instagram. You can blame a system glitch for her account resurfacing on the app this morning,” he wrote on December 18.

Before she married Harry, Meghan also had to shut down her personal blog, The Tig. “After close to three beautiful years on this adventure with you, it’s time to say goodbye to The Tig. What began as a passion project (my little engine that could) evolved into an amazing community of inspiration, support, fun and frivolity. You’ve made my days brighter and filled this experience with so much joy. Keep finding those Tig moments of discovery, keep laughing and taking risks and keep being ‘the change you wish to see in the world,'” Meg wrote in a goodbye message to her readers.