You may have heard that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are breaking out on their own. The Sussexes are splitting their offices from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. While many are sad to see less of the Fab Four together, there's also a lot of interest in what Harry and Meghan will do next. They recently introduced the world to their own Instagram account, @sussexroyal. Not everyone was so excited about the new source of royal content, however.
Kevin Keiley is a driving instructor from West Sussex. He was also the owner of @sussexroyal for the last three years. Kevin shared his story with BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat. He had no idea the royals had their eyes on his Instagram handle until he woke up on April 2. His own Instagram feed was transferred to @sussexroyal by Instagram without any prior contact or request. According to Instagram, a loophole allowed it to commandeer the account. That has left Kevin feeling frustrated with the duke and duchess' team and the social networking service.
You may have noticed a lack of Harry and Meghan content on @kensingtonroyal lately. It's part of the separating of houses between the Cambridges and the Sussexes.
Your Instagram destination for all things Harry and Meghan is now @sussexroyal. Many people are excited to have another royal family account to follow.
One West Sussex man isn't too thrilled with the change. His name is Kevin Keiley, and for the last three years, he was the owner of @sussexroyal.
Kevin used the name because he's from West Sussex and supports the Reading Football Club. Their nickname is the Royals.
Kevin found out about the change on April 2, after getting a text from his son. He told BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat, "I got a jokey text from my son which said 'Ha ha, I see your handle has gone then.'"
He checked out his account and found his handle is now @sussexroyal. According to Kevin, neither Instagram nor the Sussex team reached out to him regarding the change.
Instagram did confirm to the BBC that it took over the account. The company cited a policy on inactive accounts as the justification for it.
Kevin admits to not being very active on the network. He didn't have many followers or post often, but he followed and interacted with others' posts.
Meanwhile, his old account proved to be a record breaker. Harry and Meghan broke the record for reaching 1 million followers in the shortest amount of time.
Kevin hasn't been on Instagram since the incident. He admits to being frustrated with the networking service: "I'm a bit loath to use Instagram until I have a chat with them personally."
Kevin also has the handle on Twitter. He has control of that account still, although he has seen a jump in his follower count from people who assume it is also a royal account.
Kevin hopes he'll be able to keep that account, but he's wary. "What I'm trying to do is keep tweeting therefore they can't take it if it's active," he explained. "I don't know what the royals are planning down the line."
He's also getting a lot of hate on Twitter. The trolls attack him thinking Harry and Meghan might read their messages. They also attack him for "keeping" the account from the couple. He's considering whether or not he wants to stay on.
Kevin knows what he'd like to say to the Sussexes if they're interested in his Twitter. "Hello Harry and Meghan. If you do want my Twitter account as well can you at least have the decency to speak to me?" he suggested.
