Since it was announced earlier this year that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, would be stepping back from their formal roles in the British royal family, plenty of coverage has focused on how the two will earn money going forward. As members of the royal family, they were afforded a salary and home via British taxpayers, but in stepping back, they forego those revenue streams.
However, both already have a significant bit of wealth amassed, Harry courtesy of his inheritance from his mother, late Princess Diana, and an allowance from his father, Prince Charles, while Meghan has previous earnings from her acting career. Should she return to acting, her salary is poised to grow from the estimated $50,000 per episode she made during her seven-season performance on Suits.
The collective (and individual) popularity of the couple would seem to indicate they’ll do just fine as well. Utilizing data from video measurement company Tubular Labs, you can clearly see the couple drives social video views across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Since Oct. 1, 2019, videos about the couple shared on social media have amassed more than 716 million views. And nearly 60% of those have come since Jan. 1. Starting the day they announced their decision to leave royal life (Jan. 8), daily views have topped 15 million per day, with a peak of over 43 million on Jan. 11.
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Looking at the top videos related to Harry and Meghan since Jan. 1, two of the top five most-viewed have been published by the couple themselves: a visit to Canada House (7.5 million views) and Harry’s remarks at a Sentebale charity dinner in London (5.9 million). In total, 16 different videos about Harry and Meghan have brought at least 2 million views since the start of the year. Additionally, five different creators have generated at least 5 million views since Jan. 1, including Sky News via its Twitter account (20.3 million), the Duke and Duchess’s Instagram (18.4 million), a royal-focused fan Twitter page (14 million), Good Morning Britain via its YouTube channel (5.9 million), and BBC News via Instagram (5 million).
Interest in Harry and Meghan also goes beyond the United Kingdom. In 2020, 49% of YouTube views for related videos came from the United States, while 19% came from the U.K., 8% came from Canada, and 4% from Australia. Obviously, these are all English-speaking countries with current or former ties to Great Britain–but still, the figures show significant international reach.
Since launching an Instagram page in May 2019, the Duke and Duchess have generated nearly 90 million views on the platform, and growth may be in the future when the couple is less tied to the royal family in public life. The joint page currently has an engagement rate of 10.54%, which is the the “excellent” range, according to influencer marketing platform CreatorIQ. Additionally, an estimated 90% of their audience is active.
And even though the couple just announced their departure from the royal family, their following is already global, with the United States (27.5%), United Kingdom (12.2%), Brazil (5.6%), and Australia (5%) making up the top countries. When it comes to specific U.S. states, California leads, followed by New York, Florida, Texas, and Georgia. The audience is overwhelmingly female (94%), with the biggest age group being 25 to 34 (36.3%), and members’ top interests are friends, family and relationships, restaurants, food and grocery, and toys, children and baby.
