Prince Harry revealed more detail about his private Instagram account and how he met his wife Meghan Markle in the highly-anticipated Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan. The prince explained to viewers that it was while scrolling through his social media feed that he first came across the US actress, who was sporting a Snapchat dog filter in a video alongside a mutual friend of theirs.
Snippets of his unseen wildlife photography were shown, alongside action shots of Harry. The personal account has since been disabled but it did go by the name of @SpikeyMau5 - with insiders claiming there was a hidden meaning behind the quirky choice.
Speaking during the first episode of the six-part explosive series, the Duke of Sussex explained how their love story began. He remarked: "Meghan and I met over Instagram. I was scrolling through my feed and someone who was a friend had a video of the two of them, it was like Snapchat."
Meghan then says she decided that using Instagram was the best way to judge the prince, rather than reading stories about him on the internet.
Explaining that this mutual friend then reached out to her, Meghan replied: "I asked if I could see his feed. So that's the thing, when people say, 'did you google him?' No. That's your homework.
"You're like 'let me see what they're about in their feed', not what someone else says about them but what they are putting out about themselves. That to me was the best barometer."
Showcasing a number of never-before-seen snaps from Harry's account, many featured animals in the wild, sunsets, and conservation work from his time in Botswana, Africa.
There was one photograph of Harry showing his fun side, doing a handstand on the beach, with another of him caring for an injured rhino.
Talking about the image Harry presented of himself, Meghan continued: "So I went through and it was just like beautiful photography and all of these environmental shots and this time he was spending in Africa."
As for the name choice for his account, it's a combination of his nickname and favourite music artist, according to the biographers of Finding Freedom.
Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand claim that Harry's private Facebook profile from years earlier fell under the alias of 'Spike Wells' - a nickname given to him by Scotland Yard officers.
And for the name choice of the Instagram account handle, the biography on Harry and Meghan alleges that 'SpikeyMau5' was a mix of his nickname and a tribute to one of his favourite musical artists, Deadmau5.
The book says: "Although she shared much of her London visit on social media, Meghan knew she had to keep her dates a secret, but the clues were there.
"Around the time of their first encounter, she began to follow a mysterious-looking Instagram account by the name of @SpikeyMau5.
"With no face visible in the profile photo, just a mouse-shaped helmet, it would have meant nothing to most people. But it was in fact Harry’s private account."
It continues: "A big house music fan, he crafted the pseudonym by using part of the name of one of his favourite DJs, Deadmau5.
"Spikey came from a Facebook alias that Harry used for an account he had under the name of Spike Wells. 'Spike' was a nickname sometimes used for the prince, particularly by Scotland Yard officers.
"Harry's Facebook account (before he shut it down) had a profile photo of three guys in Panama hats taken from the back in an MGM Grand Las Vegas hotel suite.
"The account said he was from Maun, Botswana. Prior to that photo, Harry used the image of King Julien, the eccentric lemur from the Dreamworks movie Madagascar."
