The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have set up their own official Instagram account.
Harry and Meghan, who are expecting a baby this month, said @SussexRoyal would be used to share the work that drives them, and important announcements.
The move comes as the duke and duchess are splitting their household from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, whose Instagram account is @KensingtonRoyal.
READ MORE: Lorraine Kelly says plastic surgery to look younger is ruining women's looks
Meghan and Harry’s new household will be based at Buckingham Palace, while William – a future King – and Kate will remain at Kensington Palace.
In a message on their first post, Harry and Meghan thanked people for their support, saying: “Welcome to our official Instagram; we look forward to sharing the work that drives us, the causes we support, important announcements, and the opportunity to shine a light on key issues.
“We thank you for your support, and welcome you to @sussexroyal.”- Harry & Meghan.”
One of the gallery of pictures Harry and Meghan shared on Instagram (SussexRoyal/Instagram/PA)
It was accompanied by an image bearing a white version of couple’s royal cypher – the entwined initials H and M below a coronet – on a navy background.
Kensington Palace’s Twitter feed introduced the new account, saying: “Welcome to Instagram, SussexRoyal!”
Welcome to Instagram, SussexRoyal!
Follow for more on the work of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex 👉 https://t.co/qN4RncphDl pic.twitter.com/HpPdVNznrF
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 2, 2019
Harry and Meghan’s first post also included a gallery of photos of them on engagements around the world, including on trips to Australia and Fiji.
Former actress Meghan revealed only last month that she does not read newspapers or engage with Twitter to avoid getting “muddled” by the “noise”, whether positive or negative.
The duchess’s admission came when she joined a panel of feminists and national figures to mark International Women’s Day.
Model Adwoa Aboah, the Duchess of Sussex and former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard during a panel discussion on International Women’s Day (Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/PA)
She told the audience: “It’s our responsibility to make a choice on what we click on, we make a choice of what we read, we make a choice of what we engage in, that’s our personal decision to not be there for negativity, to be more positive and action-based.
“And for me that’s a tricky one because I’m not part of any of that.”
Ex-Suits star Meghan used to have her own personal Twitter and Instagram accounts, as well as a lifestyle website thetig.com, but closed them down ahead of her wedding to Harry.
The Sussexes’ new Instagram account has been introduced less than a month after the royal family published new guidelines for members of the public interacting with them on social media.
One of the gallery of pictures Harry and Meghan shared on Instagram (SussexRoyal/Instagram/PA)
It warned that trolls who post offensive or abusive messages on official royal channels will be blocked, and may even be reported to the police.
This followed news that Kensington Palace staff were spending hours each week moderating online abuse aimed at Kate and pregnant Meghan.
Some of the worst, hate-filled personal abuse is said to be between rival fans of the duchesses.
Today we have published guidelines for interacting with The Royal Family, @ClarenceHouse and @KensingtonRoyal social media channels. Read in full here: https://t.co/b57TjSn09d
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) March 4, 2019
The royal family’s website said the guidelines were introduced to try to maintain a safe environment on channels run by the three households, and it called for users to show “courtesy, kindness and respect”.
Harry warned against the perils of social media at the WE Day UK event in March.
He told schoolchildren and students at the SSE Arena in Wembley, London: “If we look at the world we’re living in, I know it can feel challenging sometimes, but your role is to shine the light.
Harry and Meghan during WE Day UK at the SSE Arena in Wembley, London (Jonathan Brady/PA)
“Every day you are inundated with an over-exposure of advertising and mainstream media, social media and endless comparisons, distorting the truth, and trying to manipulate the power of positive thinking.
“But you don’t let them sway you.”
At the moment, Harry and Meghan do not have a separate Twitter account, but their names have been removed from the @KensingtonRoyal Twitter account bio, which now reads: “The official account of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Royal Foundation, based at Kensington Palace.”
@Sussexroyal on Twitter is not associated with the royal family, and is used by a Kevin Keiley, who currently has 26 followers and whose bio reads simply “Sussex”.
This is now likely to receive scores of notifications thanks to Harry and Meghan’s new identical Instagram handle.
The new @SussexRoyal Instagram account notched up nearly 300,000 followers within an hour of launching – including Meghan’s best friend Jessica Mulroney and celebrities David Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Princess Eugenie posted a picture of Harry and Meghan on her own account with the message “Welcome cousins. @sussexroyal”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here