The Royal Family's Social Media Accounts Indicate A New Era Of The Monarchy

Buckingham Palace announced on September 27 that the royal family's mourning period for Queen Elizabeth II had ended (via Twitter). This means that working members of the royal family can return to their engagements and duties, and King Charles III can officially start his new life as the British monarch. But that's not to say he hasn't been busy. As he grieved the loss of his mother, Charles had been getting to grips with what the role of king entails.

In the week following the queen's death, Charles had been performing his official duties at Buckingham Palace. This included receiving the Red Box for the first time, which contains "papers from government ministers in the United Kingdom and the Realms and from representatives from the Commonwealth and beyond," Royal Communications explained (via Tatler). This statement was accompanied by the first official photo of King Charles III at work in Buckingham Palace, with a black and white picture of his late mother and father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, behind him (via BBC News).

As Charles' position has changed, so have the royal family's social media accounts. Not only for him and Queen Consort, Camilla, but Prince William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales as well.

King Charles III and Queen Consort, Camilla, have moved from their Clarence House Instagram handle to what used to be the Instagram from Queen Elizabeth II. Following a photo of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel after the late monarch was interred (via Instagram), the account shared a picture of the first letters from Buckingham Palace being franked with the king's royal cypher (via Instagram). This followed a black and white portrait of the queen (via Instagram), marking the end of the royal mourning period and the official handover of the account to Charles and Camilla. In addition, the profile picture on both Instagram and Twitter has been changed to a photo of the couple admiring the Balmoral War Memorial in Scotland in 2020 (via People).

In a similar move, Prince William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales have given a slight overhaul to their social media accounts. While their profile picture has not changed on either Instagram or Twitter, they now go by their new titles rather than the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Their handle on Instagram has also changed to reflect their Prince and Princess of Wales titles. However, they still go by Kensington Royal on Twitter.

After sharing their gratitude for the tireless work of those at Windsor for the queen's funeral (via Instagram), the Prince and Princess of Wales shared moments from their first royal engagement under their new titles on September 27 on Instagram. "Diolch Anglesey! What a welcome, it's great to be back," the caption reads. "It's been wonderful spending time chatting to the members of the local community and meeting these brave RNLI volunteers who help keep people safe on the North Wales shores."

Prince William and Kate Middleton are regular visitors of the Welsh island, having lived there for three years when Prince George was a baby while William was training for the Royal Air Force (via Hello!). He worked as a Search and Rescue Force pilot (via North Wales Live), so he deeply connected with the work that the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) does daily.

The couple also visited Swansea during their Welsh trip, where they visited a "re-developed church ... which supports people in the local area," as Buckingham Palace explained in a press release (via the royal family's official site). "It was fantastic to join the team supporting their community," the Prince and Princess of Wales wrote on Instagram. "What a special community hub!"