The Duke and Duchess of Sussex certainly caught the attention of their fans on Wednesday, when they unfollowed the likes of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Eugenie in order to follow only a selection of mental health-focused accounts to mark Mental Health Awareness Month in the US. Among them were a couple of body positivity advocates that no doubt caught the attention of Meghan, who is known to be passionate about inclusivity and empowerment – can we get an amen?
Meghan and Harry pledged their support to a number of mental health causes
Of the 16 sixteen accounts that Meghan and Harry chose to highlight, two were that of Bryony Gordon and Jameela Jamil, who post regularly about body acceptance and challenging beauty standards. The Telegraph columnist Bryony, who also writes openly about depression and alcoholism - and memorably interviewed Prince Harry for her Mad World podcast – often posts inspiring photos on her Instagram account, encouraging her followers to love and accept their bodies.
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A recent holiday shot was captioned: "Sun's out - and so, probably, are the gremlins in your head that tell you you look ridiculous in summer wear. Too flabby. Too cellulitey. Too skinny. Too fat. Too silly. Well I'm here to tell you that the gremlins exist only in your own head. Everyone else is too busy fighting their own. So go out there today and enjoy the weather, plus the body that allows you to enjoy it. Embrace the giddy silliness of the sun. Do not let the gremlins darken the brightness today."
Bryony running the London Marathon in 2018, and warmly hugging Meghan at a Royal Foundation event
Also amongst Meghan and Harry's shortlist was Jameela Jamil's 'I weigh' account, which has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers and the support of fellow stars Sam Smith and Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness for its refreshing take on human value, taking focus away from appearance and body weight and onto achievements and personality traits. Adjectives such as 'creative', 'passionate' and 'kind' fill the feed, as thousands join the community opening up about what they really 'weigh'.
Meghan has spoken about the influence of social media and self-confidence before, memorably during her 2018 royal visit to New Zealand with Prince Harry. She said to staff and volunteers at youth organisation Live For Tomorrow: "You see photos on social media and you don't know whether she's born with it or maybe it's a filter. Your judgement of your sense of self-worth becomes really skewed when it's all based on likes." With that in mind, we reckon everyone should follow both @i_weigh and @bryonygordon, stat – you certainly won't regret it.
