A driving instructor from West Sussex has spoken of his annoyance after the office of the Duke & Duchess of Sussex appears to have taken over his Instagram username.
Speaking to BBC News, Kevin Keiley says that he is “flattered” but “annoyed” after his account, @sussexroyal, was taken over a few days ago for the benefit of Harry & Meghan.
Mr Keiley claims that neither Instagram nor The Royal Family contacted him to say that his username was to be transferred to The Royal Household.
According to Instagram, his handle was changed without consent because the account was inactive.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Keiley said: “I got a jokey text from my son which said ‘Ha ha, I see your handle has gone then?'”I thought ‘What’s that all about?’ He said ‘Look on Instagram’ so I looked on Instagram and suddenly my handle wasn’t @sussexroyal anymore it was @_sussexroyal_
“It had been taken.”
For the time being, Mr Keiley still has access to his Twitter account which has the same username.
He says: “Hello Harry and Meghan. If you do want my Twitter account as well can you at least have the decency to speak to me?”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex launched their Instagram account earlier this week using Mr Keiley’s username.
With its launch, the Duke and Duchess said in their first post, “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.”
The separation of Instagram accounts for William and Harry’s families follows the announcement a couple of weeks ago that the families would be splitting households. The Cambridges will retain their Kensington Palace base while the Sussexes will move to Buckingham Palace.
