Meghan Markle Is on Course to Become First Royal Super Influencer

Meghan Markle spent much of the past few years attacking big social media firms for their reckless failure to protect the mental health of children and young adults, but she shifted course radically last week with a brand new Instagram account.

A barefoot Meghan, who just four months ago allegedly claimed she was one of the most bullied people in the world due to social media, was pictured on a California beach scratching “2025” into the sand.

She was alone, but friendly media were briefed that @meghan was being filmed by her husband, Prince Harry, heading off another round of uncomfortable speculation about their preference for being seen separately these days.

Calendar date aside, the timing was, prima facie, odd.

The horrific terror attack in New Orleans that grabbed global headlines and left ten people dead and hundreds injured and traumatized had happened just a few hours earlier, and the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas happened after the account was activated.

By a tragic and bizarre coincidence it would later emerge that one of the victims of the New Orleans attack, Edward Pettifer, was the brother of one of Harry’s godchildren and the stepson of his beloved former nanny, Tiggy Legge Bourke. Meghan McCain would later accuse the princess of being “utterly tone deaf” by launching her account at such a moment.

The reason for pressing on despite the horror-struck national mood soon became clear when Meghan made a second post to the account, the trailer for her new cooking show, With Love, Meghan. In truth, if Meghan wants to sell us anything, she did not have much choice but to get back on social media, the shop window of the world.

The trailer—Meghan baking, Meghan goofing off and Meghan telling us she wants to seek joy—may or may not be your thing, but is undeniably a perfect bit of insipid Insta-fluff.

It has already racked her up over a million follows: as social media consultant Lauren Spearman told The Daily Beast: “The trailer for the show appears to be ‘trad wife meets tablescaping,’ and where better than Instagram to document that.”

Needless to say it has been monstered by Meghan’s critics and praised by her fans. Netflix will release the show on Jan. 15, five days before the inauguration, which some cynics might say suggests Netflix boss Ted Sarandos doesn’t expect it to occupy the nosecone of the nation’s attention.

While the cooking show may vanish into the Netflix ether, social media experts and consultants who spoke to The Daily Beast argued that Meghan’s presence as a figure on social media is here to stay, and that handled correctly, she could make millions from a new life as super influencer.

While she has so far limited her exposure to the relatively non-toxic Instagram, ultimately any coherent strategy will see her activate accounts on multiple platforms, says Gary Frayter, celebrity social media director at Kronus Communications.

Frayter told The Daily Beast: “YouTube is the king of all platforms. If I were advising them, I’d tell them to double down on YouTube. It’s the hardest platform to grow on, but the rewards are unmatched when it comes to sponsorships and ad revenue through YouTube AdSense. I could definitely see her finding success on TikTok. The platform aligns well with her public image and offers a lot of potential for engagement. However, X has become way too political in her world. She’s very protective of her public image and probably wouldn’t touch X. Besides, her target demographic isn’t really there; it’s just not the right fit for her brand.”

Frayter said that Meghan could make huge sums as the first royal super influencer if she can manage her accounts well. He said: “They could each make hundreds of thousands per post, no question. Having managed social media for Mike Tyson’s podcast and other celebrities, I’ve seen firsthand what they earn.

“I’d argue Meghan could easily pull in $100k per post, minimum. The same goes for Harry.”

Matt Yanofsky, CEO of the Moment Lab, a Canadian social media marketing agency, told The Daily Beast: “You would need to know their internal metrics on engagement to get an exact quote on what they would make. It would also depend on the project. If she’s just doing one post, it could be in the thousands. If she’s doing multiple posts over a year, it could be a seven-figure deal similar to a traditional fashion deal.

“The problem is, it’s unclear if Meghan can sell products. She generates headlines, but does she move units? Just because people want to watch you doesn’t mean they want to buy your products.”

Yanofsky adds: “People want authenticity. She’s anything but authentic, and that’s why she struggles to sell products.”

Warren Johnson, founder of W Communications, who has worked on social campaigns for a wealth of clients including Sony and Disney, told The Daily Beast: “The cooking show probably isn’t going to set the world on fire, so the more interesting question is: how can they harness social media to their advantage? The model here is the Kim Kardashian playbook. Build a huge audience, engage authentically, and back it with a solid product. If she works at it and controls her narrative, she could redefine her brand and monetize it massively.”

However Johnson says that Meghan might have been unwise to make the second thing she posted on her new account a Netflix promo, saying that generally it’s considered better practice to build up a fanbase and a community before you start the hard sell.

Although she now has 1.4 million followers, that figure needs to be closer to 20 or 30 million, Johnson says, to convince partners in the entertainment business that you are bringing a significant “distribution ecosystem to the table.”

(For reference: Ryan Reynolds has 53 million followers on Instagram while Kate and William have 17 million.)

Johnson says: “Just dumping clips won’t cut it. Engagement is everything. You’ve got to work at it. You get back what you put in.”

Meghan and Harry’s office did not return a request for comment.