CULTURE

Prince Harry Has Followed In Meghan Markle’s Footsteps As a Guest Editor

The couple who guest edits together stays together.

by Steph Eckardt

The Duke Of Sussex Visits Malawi - Day Two
Pool/Samir Hussein/Getty Images

Currently in the midst of their royal tour of Africa, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and baby Archie have been keeping busy, bouncing between Capetown, Botswana, Angola, and Malawi. But by no means does that mean the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are neglecting their duties, royal or otherwise: In fact, Prince Harry seems to be using the opportunity to prove the full extent of his Instagram game.

On Monday, Prince Harry made what he described as “an important stop” in the Liwonde National Park of Malawi. He did not, however, share that dispatch on his and Markle’s usual @sussexroyal Instagram, where they’ve been regularly posting since April. Instead, the Duke shared that he was planting trees for the Queens Commonwealth Canopy on National Geographic‘s official Instagram, where he also shared that he was taking over the @natgeo account for a day as guest editor. (The royals might not run their own account, but they apparently still look at the app; he went on to describe National Geographic‘s account as “one of [his] personal favorites.”)

“Hi everyone!,” the Duke of Sussex kicked off his first post on Monday. “As part of this takeover, I am inviting you to be a part of our ‘Looking Up’ social campaign. To help launch the campaign, here is a photograph I took today here in Liwonde of Baobab trees.” (What, you didn’t realize he’s also a photographer?)

“#LookingUp seeks to raise awareness of the vital role trees play in the Earth’s ecosystem, and is an opportunity for all of us to take a moment, to appreciate the beauty of our surroundings,” Prince Harry continued, urging others to post images of their own and signing off with two tree emojis. Several hours later, he followed up with a couple more examples: a “stunning view of a strangler fig,” and “the autumn colors in the U.K.”

But let’s not give Prince Harry too much credit; the real influencer in the family is still, of course, Markle, who used to spend her pre-royal days running the Tig, a quirky lifestyle blog. Perhaps that’s why she’s so far put him to shame as a guest editor: Her last takeover was an entire print issue of British Vogue, which came complete with an interview about motherhood with Michelle Obama. Still, we’ll give the Duke an A for effort; he is, after all, in the midst of planting trees and trekking across southern Africa.

Related: Princess Märtha Louise of Norway Would Rather Be an Influencer Than a Royal