Meghan Markle’s close friend Delfina Blaquier has made a sweet Instagram post in and said she is ‘so proud’ and ‘can’t wait to see more’ of the Duchess.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, made a dramatic return to social media yesterday with a video of her laughing on the beach near Montecito.
Reposting the clip to her own Instagram account, Delfina – who is the wife of Prince Harry’s close friend Nacho Figueras – added Meghan’s video to her own story, writing that she was ‘so proud’ of her.
‘Hola M. Can’t wait to see more. Love you friend and so proud of you,’ she captioned the reposted video.
The pair appear to have built a firm friendship and have previously sang each other’s praises, referring to each other as ‘sister’ and ‘fellow polo wife’.
In one scene of Harry and Meghan Markle Netflix series, Polo, the former royal was seen warmly hugging the prince’s polo playing pal Nacho and were seen with their arms affectionately wrapped around each other as several moments in the series.
They appear to have forged a strong friendship through their husband’s passion for polo and after attending polo matches together to watch their spouses play.
Appearing behind the camera in the new video was Prince Harry, which sparked a frenzy online, as tens of thousands of people followed it in a matter of minutes, ballooning the account from 115,000 fans to 648,000 today.
Meghan Markle’s close friend Delfina Blaquier has made a sweet Instagram post in which she has said she is ‘so proud’ and ‘can’t wait to see more’
Reposting the clip to her own Instagram account, Delfina (second left) – who is the wife of Prince Harry’s (right) close friend Nacho Figueras (left) – added Meghan’s video to her own story, writing that she was ‘so proud’ of her’
It has long been rumoured the profile belonged to Meghan after the account was set up back in June, 2022, but remained empty. She then teased fans again in 2023 when she declared she was ‘getting back on Instagram’.
Now the mother-of-two has confirmed the profile is hers, by posting a clip walking towards the shoreline at the beach in California, where she lives with Prince Harry, and children Archie, five, and Lilibet, three.
The move is a huge u-turn for the Duchess, and is understood to be part of a new chapter for the couple and their lives in America, with her and Harry having previously ditched social media after quitting their royal duties.
In her new clip, Meghan is seen drawing the digits of the New Year – ‘2025’ – into the sand, perhaps hinting an upcoming project.
A beaming Duchess is then filmed running off camera as she giggles.
As well as her first post, the @meghan account also updated its profile picture to a black-and-white shot of Meghan smiling and wearing and elegant white dress.
Meghan and Delfina became fast friends after being introduced by their husbands, who are thought to have had a friendship from as far back as 2007.
Meghan and Delfina became fast friends after being introduced by their husbands, who are thought to have had a friendship from as far back as 2007 (the pair pictured last month)
In one scene of Harry and Meghan Markle Netflix series, Polo, the former royal was seen warmly hugging the prince’s polo playing pal Nacho and were seen with their arms affectionately wrapped around each other as several moments in the series
Alba’s mother Delfina has even previously referred to the Duchess of Sussex as a ‘sister’ when gushing over the ‘fellow polo-wife’ in an Instagram post in 2022.
She also praised the royal mother-of-two as being ‘stronger than she knows’ in an interview within the same year.
In an interview several with Hello! several years ago, Delfina also revealed that the pair referred to themselves as the ‘P Wives’ which stands for ‘Polo Wives’.
Delfina has been married to the millionaire polo player, whose full name is Ignacio Figueras, since 2005 – and the couple attended the royal wedding together in 2018.
What’s more, Meghan’s daughter Lilibet appears to have forged a close friendship with Alba.
According to Hello reporter Alexandra Hurtado, Alba was asking after her friend at the polo event last month.
The royal reporter wrote: ‘According to Nacho, Alba wanted to know why the Sussexes’ daughter Lili wasn’t there.’
Since the Sussexes’ move to the US, where Nacho and Harry played polo together at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club, Meghan and Delfina have become firm friends too.
The Duchess of Sussex , 43, now boasts a new blue tick after yesterday sharing her first clip on the app, where her handle is simply @meghan
Prince Harry was behind the camera of the new video, which sparked a frenzy online, as tens of thousands of people followed it in a matter of minutes, ballooning the account from 115,000 fans to 648,000 today
In the summer of 2022, Delfina took to her social media account to share an affectionate message about the Duchess of Sussex, saying it had been ‘so special’ to spend time with her.
Posting a snap of the pair standing while watching their husbands compete at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club, Delfina wrote: ‘M – looking forward to many more of these times with you and H.
‘Getting to spend time together over these two months was so special. I wish everyone knew you the way you are.’
She continued: ‘My sister, my now fellow “pwife” (polo wife) -genius of you to come up with this. Can’t wait to see you again soon, to share thrill, hikes, and just more chill time.’
Delfina added: ‘You also have my respect. Keep walking, steady and strong. Listen to your heart, that will guide you well, because you have a big one and it’s a beautiful one. I love you my darling.’
Since uploading the video to her Instagram yesterday, Meghan has received a blue tick on Instagram, making her account verified, after yesterday sharing her first clip on the app, where her handle is simply @meghan.
According to Meta, a verified badge means that ‘an account has been verified based on their activity across our products and information or documents they provide’.
‘Once verified, public figures, celebrities and brands that meet certain account and eligibility requirements may not change their username on their account,’ it continued.
Meghan Markle’s account is now verified with a blue tick – after she made a dramatic return to social media with a video of her laughing on the beach near Montecito
The Duchess secured the account before launching her podcast all the way back in August 2022. Pictured in December
‘Verification cannot be transferred to a different account. Instagram accounts that impersonate public figures or other people go against our Community Standards and aren’t allowed on Instagram.’
It is also possible to get a blue tick via Meta Verified – a paid subscription that comes with other features including ‘account support, impersonation protection, and more’. However, you still need to meet eligibility requirements in order to obtain this.
The return to Instagram comes after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex vowed never to return to social media after claiming to have dealt with an ‘almost unsurvivable’ amount of abuse.
Meghan originally shut down all of her social media accounts in January 2018, just after getting engaged to Prince Harry.
‘Ms Markle is grateful to everyone who has followed her social media accounts over the years, however as she has not used them for some time she has taken the decision to close them,’ a Kensington Palace source said at the time.
In 2020, Meghan and Harry stopped posting to their Sussex Royal Instagram and Twitter accounts.
The royal couple have frequently spoken out about the abuse they received online, despite continuing to use online media to promote their ‘progressive’ new roles in the US – including most-recently via a podcast on Spotify.
But in 2023 it was revealed that Meghan had set up an Instagram account – although Wednesday was the first time she has posted anything on it.
The Duchess secured the account before launching her podcast all the way back in August 2022.
At the time a source said: ‘Meghan was set to go live on Insta, but changed her mind shortly before she launched her “Archetypes” podcast, so it’s just sitting there now.’
In 2023, Meghan revealed how she was eager to make a comeback to social media, telling The Cut: ‘Do you want to know a secret? I’m getting back…on Instagram.’
In 2019 the royal couple caused controversy when they started their @sussexroyal Instagram account. Both pictured in May
She had been teasing her return for months, with news that the @meghan handle was hers creating a frenzy of followers despite the account lying empty without a single post.
Experts previously predicted Meghan could rake in $1million (£790,000) per post as ‘an absolute minimum’. They also anticipate that her account launch could see her become one of the top ten highest-paid influencers in the world.
The account was first created in June 2022. It had no bio information and only had a profile picture of pink dahlias.
It is unclear how Meghan was able to get hold of her unique username as Instagram’s guidelines state handles are given on a ‘first-come, first-served basis’. A single-name handle such as @meghan is rare, with most users needing to include surnames and numbers to find handles that haven’t already been taken.
It is also unknown whether the handle was held by a previous user, but celebrities are able to buy an Instagram name.
The account shows the username has been changed once since it was created.
In 2019 the royal couple caused controversy when they started their @sussexroyal Instagram account.
Football fan Kevin Keiley, from West Sussex, had used the handle for around three years, creating it because he was a Reading FC fan – nicknamed The Royals – and was from Sussex.
But he said it was ‘stolen’ from him and given Instagram said his handle was given away because the account lay inactive, but Mr Keiley said no one contacted him about it.
Akshay Makadiya, founder of digital marketing agency RankLane, said: ‘Celebrities often have an easier time obtaining specific usernames on platforms like Instagram. Given her global fame, there are several methods Meghan could have potentially obtained the handle through.
‘The handle might have been in use by another individual with the same name or for other purposes. Meghan’s team could have reached out to the original user and negotiated a transfer.
‘This could involve a financial transaction. Or if the account was inactive or perceived as ‘squatting’ (holding on to a username without genuine use, especially with intentions to profit from it later), Instagram’s policies could have facilitated its release to Meghan.’
Social media expert Eric Schiffer previously told the Mail On Sunday: ‘I don’t think Meghan coming back to Instagram will surprise anyone. She has a new talent manager and this is the next logical step. You have celebrities like the Kardashians who can command $1million and up for a single post promoting a product. There is no reason Meghan couldn’t be earning those sorts of fees.’
MailOnline has approached representative for the Duchess for comment.