Why Prince Harry and Meghan unfollowed Prince William and Kate on Instagram

By Meaghan Wray

Royal watchers were overjoyed when Prince Harry and Meghan debuted their official Instagram account, but were equally shocked when the couple unfollowed many members of the Royal Family – including Prince William and Kate. But there hasn’t been a rift in the monarchy! In fact, the move was to support a cause they all hold close to their hearts: Mental health.

Harry, Meghan, William and Kate attended the first annual Royal Foundation Forum in February 2018. Photo: © Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Confirming their support of mental health awareness week in the United Kingdom, the Sussexes shared a collage of images supporting the cause to their Instagram account on Thursday (May 2). They captioned the snap: “To pay tribute to all of the incredible work people across the globe are doing in this space, we are hoping to shine a light on several Instagram accounts that promote mental well-being, mental fitness, body positivity, self-care, and the importance of human connection – to not just hear each other, but to listen.”

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May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the US and May 13-19 is Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK. To pay tribute to all of the incredible work people across the globe are doing in this space, we are hoping to shine a light on several Instagram accounts that promote mental well-being, mental fitness, body positivity, self-care, and the importance of human connection - to not just hear each other, but to listen. There are countless organisations doing amazing work for mental health - please consider the accounts we’ve highlighted as a small snapshot of this global support network. We are all in this together. We invite you to explore the extraordinary stories of strength, and the commitment to kindness as seen in the above accounts. Each month we will honour this same concept and change the accounts we solely follow based on a different theme or cause. Please go to our homepage and click “following” to see each of the select accounts and find out more about their work. Please note: Images shared are from some of the handles we are now following

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The Sussexes are now only following 16 accounts, as opposed to the 23 they were following before, including Oprah Winfrey’s SuperSoul, body positive account i_weigh, King Campaign, the royals’ own Heads Together, Black Mental Health Matters and more.

MORE: Is Duchess Meghan running the royal Instagram account?

The ‘Fab Four’ are all extremely passionate about getting rid of mental health stigma, and providing young people and their families with tools to deal with any of their struggles. With Heads Together, the royals help start conversations about mental health by partnering with schools and other charitable organizations to create a positive impact on society.

Kate visited the Anna Freud Centre on May 1. Photo: © TOBY MELVILLE/AFP/Getty Images

Duchess Kate, for example, just helped open the new Anna Freud Centre of Excellence on May 1. The centre, for which Kate has been patron since 2016, helps transform the way children's mental health services are offered. Her brother-in-law, Prince Harry, spearheaded the Invictus Games Foundation, which in part helps support the mental health of military veterans.

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