Football Loses His Instagram Account to Harry and Meghan

Harry and Meghan’s new Instagram account, SussexRoyal, has broken the record for fastest to hit one million followers—just in time for the very significant upcoming photo op of their baby’s arrival. The man who previously had the handle is a little miffed, but it’s fine!

BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat spoke to Kevin Keiley, who’d been on Instagram as @sussexroyal for three years or so, “because he supports Reading FC – nicknamed the Royals – and he lives in West Sussex.” Sorry, Kevin:

“I got a jokey text from my son which said ‘Ha ha, I see your handle has gone then’,” the 55-year-old tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

“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.”

He admitted he barely posted, and mostly used it to follow other people. Instagram confirmed to the BBC that he’d been bounced in accordance with their policies, which “allows it to make changes to an account if it’s been inactive for a certain amount of time.” Kevin still has the Twitter handle, though! And now the poor man is getting sucked into the royal trollstorm: “I didn’t ask for this. I’ve had the account for years – it’s not very pleasant.”

Meanwhile, the British tabloids have miraculously found a shit-stirring angle in all this, as Lainey Gossip pointed out:

“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex created their own platform this afternoon but failed to connect with Prince Andrew in an humiliating moment for Prince Harry’s uncle,” according to the Express. “The move has further showcased Meghan and Harry’s independence from other royals following their split from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Kensington Palace.” Yes, in a SHOCKING snub, they followed Kensington Palace, Clarence House, and The Royal Family first, and then everyone and everything else roughly two hours later. HUMILIATING! UNPRECEDENTED!

Sometimes I truly worry they are going to pull a muscle reaching so hard, so far.