Prince Harry Had a Secret Instagram Account With a Hilarious Handle

Prince Harry once had a secret Instagram account, royal biographers Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand revealed in new book Finding Freedom.

london, united kingdom february 28 the duke of sussex outside abbey road studios in london, united kingdom on february 28, 2020 the duke of sussex watched the invictus games choir perform with jon bon jovi, an american singer songwriter and met the members of the choir photo by dinendra hariaanadolu agency via getty images
(Image credit: Anadolu Agency)
  • Prince Harry once had a secret Instagram account with the username @SpikeyMau5, royal biographers Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand revealed in new book Finding Freedom.
  • The username is a reference to his Facebook alias, Spike Wells, as well as his favorite DJ, Deadmau5.
  • Alas, @SpikeyMau5 has since been deleted from Instagram. 

It's jarring enough to imagine Prince Harry idling a few royal hours away by scrolling through Instagram, perhaps uploading the odd photo of some particularly remarkable latte art using the Valencia filter. What's even more staggering: Prince Harry reportedly named his secret Instagram account after his favorite DJ, Deadmau5, as well as his Facebook alias, Spike Wells. The not at all embarrassing outcome? @SpikeyMau5.

According to Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, whose Sussex biography Finding Freedom is being serialized by the Times of London, Meghan Markle began following @SpikeyMau5 around the time of their secret first date, at Soho House’s Dean Street Townhouse in London. With the profile photo a shot of Deadmau5's mouse ear helmet, it's unlikely anyone could have guessed she was actually following Harry.

What the Duchess' followers might have guessed was that she'd met someone during her trip to London. According to Scobie and Durand, Meghan posted on Instagram after their first date, sharing a photo of a Love Heart reading "Kiss Me" with the caption "Lovehearts in #London." Cute!

Back to Harry's secret life online: In May, news broke that he'd maintained a Facebook profile between 2008 and 2012 under the name "Spike Wells" (Scotland Yard officers often referred to the Prince as Spike, according to the Times.) Harry/Spike listed his hometown as Maun, Botswana, and his interests as "all sports." Oh, and he posted several photos of himself and his then girlfriend, Chelsy Davy. So that's Instagram and Facebook down; who's going to do us all a favor and leak Harry's Tumblr?

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Emily Dixon
Morning Editor

Emily Dixon is a British journalist who’s contributed to CNN, Teen Vogue, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Wonderland, The Big Roundtable, Bust, and more, on everything from mental health to fashion to political activism to feminist zine collectives. She’s also a committed Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and Tracee Ellis Ross fan, an enthusiastic but terrible ballet dancer, and a proud Geordie lass.