Royal Family hesitant to follow Sarah Ferguson's bold move

The bold move marked the first time a member of the Royal Family had joined the social media platform.

This comes nearly a year after Sarah, 65, was welcomed back into the royal fold when she joined her ex-husband at Sandringham for Christmas.

Despite the duchess joining TikTok, other members of the Royal Family will not be following suit, according to claims in The Mail.

TikTok, which is Chinese-owned, was banned from Government phones last year due to security fears.

King Charles, as Head of State, acts on Government advice,- so unless the Government revises its opinion, Buckingham Palace will not post on the social media platform any time soon.

Aides at Kensington Palace have taken a similar view, according to the publication.

That does not mean TikTok's global takeover has escaped royal notice.

The Royal Family are keen to engage with young people and have invited TikTok influencers, among other social media stars, to events so they can post about it to their followers.

In the meantime, both Buckingham and Kensington Palace are increasingly active on American-owned platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and YouTube.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have 16.8 million followers on Instagram alone, while the main Royal Family account has 13.3 million.

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But the Duchess of York is not a formal member of the Royal Family nor a working royal, so is not bound by the same constraints.

Her spokesman said she joined TikTok because "she's passionate about connecting with the next generation and amplifying their voices".

The spokesman added: "The Duchess is aware that TikTok is the main means of communication for many younger people so wanted to be a part of it."

Sarah also spoke to her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, before signing up. Her team are aware of digital safety concerns around the app - but says she has deployed cybersecurity firm CYPFER to protect her online.