Riskiest times the royals broke social media rules – including Princess Eugenie's palace leak

Mother's Day is a time to celebrate those closest to you, but in March 2024 the Prince and Princess of Wales' Instagram came under scrutiny. Princess Kate posted a photograph of her and her three children, George, Charlotte and Louis, that soon had internet sleuths pointing out some strange details.

A 'kill notice' was quickly issued by photo agencies after discovering the picture had been manipulated. While unusual, it was Kate's reaction to the incident that breached royal protocol, when the princess opted for a more personal apology: instead of issuing a formal statement via the palace press office, she posted a message to social media, casually signed with a 'C' and explained the photo's stranger elements were down to amateur efforts in editing.

His mother, Princess Diana, was dubbed the 20th century's most photographed woman, and there's certainly no shortage of snapshots featuring her oldest son Prince William. But these photos are normally taken under controlled conditions or captured in public during royal engagements, to keep everyone up-to-date with the royal family.

Of course, there are plenty of people hoping for a more private encounter and the perfect picture to mark the moment. Prince William is known to shirk an existing protocol discouraging the royals from taking selfies, for both safety reasons and to adhere to traditional royal manners, posing with crowds and getting caught by the shutter on London's streets. Now, it's not uncommon to see the Prince posing for an Instagram story, and the palace have had to make their peace with it.

Royal protocol means political opinions have to remain private and public snapshots of daily life shared via a personal account are a big no-no. Before tying the knot with Prince Harry, Meghan had a following of just under 2 million, running popular lifestyle blog The Tig. 

Before walking down the aisle, the expectant princess was forced to cleanse her digital footprint, but her royally rule-breaking social media habits didn't end there. Meghan isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in, and shared messages of support for the #MeToo and Time's Up movements via the Kensington Palace channels. 

An official palace announcement is enough to send every royal fan's heart rate through the roof, but in January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan opted for a more casual digital statement via their official Instagram, @sussexroyal, announcing they were stepping back from their positions as senior working royals.

It's a move that set the precedent for their life away from the strict protocols faced by the royals, rebelling against the rule that major announcements must be coordinated through Buckingham Palace.

Unlike the senior royals, Princess Eugenie is allowed a social media presence that's all her own – but sometimes, these freedoms spell trouble for the royals when they lead to an inadvertent breach of protocol. In 2018, the princess posted a photograph of her father Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in a corridor of Buckingham Palace that is kept closed to the public.

She revealed in a subsequent interview that the picture of a private corridor during Trooping the Colour got her "in trouble", proving the royals require an extra step of thought when hitting post on every single Instagram shot.