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.
