Prince William and Kate Middleton Hire Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Former Social Media Manager

• Meghan Markle and Prince Harry posted their last social media post (opens in new tab) from their Sussex Royal Instagram account at the end of March.
• David Watkins, who managed it for them, is now working with Kate Middleton and Prince William.
• Aside from the very occasional snafu (like having to delete a post (opens in new tab)) Watkins' work was fun, funny, personable, and meaningful—a good representation of the work the Sussexes were trying to do.

David Watkins, all of 27 years old, used to be digital communications lead when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were senior royals. The Sussex Royal account shut down at the end of March, and more information is coming about Harry and Meghan's new venture Archewell (opens in new tab). But in the meantime, according to Watkins' LinkedIn (opens in new tab) and reported by People (opens in new tab), he's been scooped up by Kate Middleton and Prince William to manage their social accounts now.

First of all, wow—having that kind of responsibility and public-facing job at 27? I might die. Second of all, Watkins clearly did a fabulous job, considering that the (now defunct) Sussex Royal account has 11.3 million followers—it had allllmost caught up to the Kensington Royal account, which has 11.5 million. There was a conspiracy theory roaming about the Internets that Meghan was managing the account herself (opens in new tab), and indeed it seemed as though both the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were actively involved. Some of the birthday wishes and personal messages appeared to come directly from them.

Overall, the account was as personal as any royal account, with the obvious focus on charitable work. But there were fake text message conversations (opens in new tab), interactive, participatory posts with followers (opens in new tab), and the occasional glimpse of Archie (opens in new tab). I can totally understand how Kate and William would want to emulate or at least be inspired by the personable style, especially since William, as future king, has engaged and will continue to engage directly with the public. 

I don't know when Watkins started working with the Cambridges exactly, but I've already started to notice a slightly more casual tone in their posts (plus emojis!):

I mean, and that Clap for Our Carers George/Charlotte/Louis post was absolutely inspired:

So watch that account, is what I'm saying.

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