Prince Harry is being criticised by a royal expert for using social media

prince harry

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are one of the most watched couples in the world, and their every move is assessed, documented and scrutinised - splitting from Prince William and Kate Middleton's royal household, the endless feud rumours and ensuring that baby Archie's christening was a private ceremony have resulted in some less than positive headlines.

Some of their decisions have upset royal fans, and now Harry's behaviour has been criticised by one royal expert.

Caroline Frost, a royal correspondent, has commented on the Duke of Sussex's use of social media in the wake of his speech about its effect on mental health.

Speaking to Sky News, she said: 'It’s all in the timings of these things.

'So we had Prince Harry telling a young audience "stay away from social media, it can damage your mental health, please live lives in balance and stop worrying about how you look."

'Literally the very next day they launched their Instagram account. So I think there’s a little bit of management perhaps that needs to be improved.'

During a visit to a London YMCA, Harry said: 'Social media is more addictive than drugs and alcohol and it’s more dangerous because it’s normalised and there are no restrictions to it. We are in really quite a mind-altering time, but quite an exciting time, because everyone in this room has the opportunity to make a real difference and change the times.

'[It’s important that] younger people coming through are less connected to their phones – well, they can be just as connected to their phones if they want to be, but they have to have the human connection as well. Without that human connection, when you do have a problem you have nowhere to go. And the only place you might go is back online.'

However, Caroline Frost admitted she felt 'it is all about the magic' when asked about her thoughts on the recent photos from baby Archie's christening, which Harry and Meghan shared on Instagram.

'This looks to me like old Hollywood days,' she continued.

'When we didn’t expect so much of our stars, our celebrities, our royal public profiles. And now here we are, we have social media, we watch every twist and turn, we feel as a nation very invested.'

While they have shared the occasional photo of baby Archie, the couple has used their Instagram account @SussexRoyal largely to keep their 9 million followers updated with photos of themselves at work and on official royal outings.

And judging by the amount of fans they have on social media, it seems that many people are pretty happy with how they're using the platform.

Jadie Troy-Pryde
News Editor

Jadie Troy-Pryde is News Editor, covering celebrity and entertainment, royal, lifestyle and viral news. Before joining the team in 2018 as the Lifestyle and Social Media Editor, she worked at a number of women’s fashion and lifestyle titles including Grazia, Women’s Health and Stylist, and now heads the Marie Claire UK news desk.