Ever been sitting on Instagram scrolling through its labyrinth of content when BOOM – two hours have passed and you haven’t moved?
Indeed, it would be safe to say that the photo sharing platform can be somewhat addictive – so much so that even royals who have apparently sworn off social media are secretly scrolling their days away.
Just weeks after Kate Middleton’s younger brother James made his secret Instagram publicly available for the world to see (and salivate over), reports are now claiming the Meghan Markle herself also had a secret Instagram account up until as late as Christmas 2018.
Meghan Markle reportedly had a secret Instagram account, even after deleting her public one. (Image: Instagram @meghanmarkle)
After shutting down her official social media accounts in January 2018 before marrying her husband Prince Harry in May, a new source is claiming the Duchess of Sussex still continued a ‘secret’ Instagram account solely to follow her friends.
But the pregnant royal was reportedly left feeling ‘isolated and alone’ when trolls started writing ‘vile’ comments on the secret account.
“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,” a source told The Sun.
The comments reportedly left Meghan feeling so distraught that she closed the account just before Christmas to “protect her mental health”.
“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 continued.
“She doesn’t feel safe enough to go out on her own without protection.”
The pregnant royal was trolled on her secret account, which left her feeling isolated and alone, a source claims. (Image: Getty)
Markle has been under scrutiny more than ever of late amid claims that the pregnant royal has sparked a family feud.
Almost daily, rumours are being leaked from Kensington Palace about the supposed rift her arrival has caused between Harry and Will, Will and Meghan, Meghan and Kate… the list goes on.
With that being said, it’s no wonder the Duchess decided a digital detox was in order.
READ MORE: Meghan Markle’s downfall: Why the world has turned against the Duchess
Duchess Meghan had a very colourful public Instagram account before she became a royal. (Image: Instagram @meghanmarkle)
In January 2018, Meghan had a very public Instagram filled with the things she is known to be passionate about.
With food, fashion, travel and lifestyle, Markle’s account was as Insta-glam as they come.
After she had closed down the account, a palace aide said: “Ms. Markle is grateful to everyone who has followed her social media accounts over the years. However, as she has not used these accounts for some time, she has taken the decision to close them.”
But it seems Markle wasn’t quite ready to part with the beloved social media platform just then, with a source telling US Weekly that she found it ‘frustrating and stressful’ having ‘no voice’.
READ NEXT: The best snaps from Meghan Markle’s now deleted Instagram account
But we can’t really blame the Duchess for deciding to take a step back to keep as much of her life private as possible.
And never fear – we’ll still be getting plenty of updates on the happenings in world Markle.
While Markle and the majority of royals do not have social media accounts, the lives of the likes of Wills, Kate, Harry and Meghan are well documented by official Palace aides who share daily updates on the various engagements they attend.
WATCH: The royals step out on Christmas Day:
