Prince William and Kate hire Harry and Meghan's former social media guru
Prince William has swooped in and hired his brother’s former social media star as Harry and Meghan prepare to launch their new organisation in the USA.
William and Kate have hired David Watkins, who used to work for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they were senior royals, and worked on their hugely successful Instagram page.
According to his LinkedIn page, Watkins, was the couple’s digital communications lead, looking after their “brand strategy” as well as “content creation” and “copywriting”.
Having been let go by Prince Harry, 35, and his wife Meghan, 37, when they closed their London office, Watkins has confirmed he started working for the Cambridges at the beginning of April.
His job title is now “digital communications and social media” so he could have been hired to help the duke and duchess replicate the success of SussexRoyal on their own account.
Harry and Meghan set a Guinness World Record when they started their Instagram account, becoming the fastest ever to reach 1 million followers.
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And they had more than 11 million when they had to mothball the account on 31 March as they stepped back from their senior royal roles and agreed not to use the word royal in any branding.
Friends actor Jennifer Aniston set a new record when she joined Instagram - hitting 1 million followers half an hour quicker than the Sussexes.
Watkins says he asks himself a question from Martin Luther King Jr daily “What are you doing for others?” which could have been the ethos that landed him his first royal job, having been poached from fashion brand Burberry.
Harry and Meghan used their Instagram account to make announcements more directly to their fans and followers, and indicated they would prefer that method going forward when they decided they wanted to step back from royal duties.
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They cited the Royal Rota system as part of their reasons for wanting to leave their posts, saying it prevented them sharing news directly with their fans.
The Sussex Royal Instagram account often posts in a different way to Kensington Royal, the account managed by William and Kate’s team.
William’s position as second in line to the throne means he and his wife are more serious in their posts, whereas Harry was able to post in a more stylised way.
But the Cambridges have been more publicly affectionate recently, even sharing a picture of themselves cuddling at the top of a hill in Ireland while on tour.
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And their video of their three children clapping for carers during the coronavirus pandemic went down very well with royal watchers, perhaps indicating a change of tone in their output.
Harry and Meghan are now living in Los Angeles with son Archie, who is 10-months-old.
They confirmed on Tuesday that they would be calling their new non-profit organisation Archewell, taken from the Greek word ‘Arche’ meaning source of action.
The word was also the inspiration for their son’s name, they confirmed.
The couple, who are understood to be house hunting in Malibu, said they had not wanted to share the information about the organisation yet, preferring attention to be on the coronavirus response, but paperwork had come to light which meant they had to make a statement.
