I confess I’m confused. One of the reasons the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said they were walking away from royal life in 2020 was their right to privacy.
I remember when Meghan was pregnant (with Archie). The Sussex’s office refused to say where, how or when they had their first baby. It was only after they’d got back home to Windsor that it was announced Meghan had even gone into labour - and it didn’t name the private Portland Hospital where she’d already given birth.
Which, frankly, I completely understood. Why on earth should Harry and Meghan make their kids public property?
The modern-day 'custom', started by Princess Diana, of posing on the steps of the Lindo Wing just a day after what could have been a complicated labour seemed utterly bizarre to me. (After the births of both my children, I was in no position to even walk, let alone pose in heels and a full blow-dry.)
So I just don’t understand why Meghan is now posting pictures of her kids on Instagram. The latest was a Valentine’s Day picture of Harry holding five-year-old Lilibet - with her face clearly visible.
Archie and Lili are part of Meghan’s ‘perfect family’ brand
The photo came in the same week as Harry hitting out (again) against the evils of social media for kids. He was in Los Angeles, offering emotional support to parents at the heart of a landmark California trial in which Instagram’s parent company Meta and Google’s YouTube are accused of designing 'addiction machines' that harm children’s mental health.
At times near tears, Harry’s sincerity is not in doubt, and as I’ve said here before, I salute him for his stand, which makes it even more inexplicable that he’s tacitly supporting his wife’s use of their children on social media.
Make no mistake, Archie and Lili are part of Meghan’s 'perfect family' brand - their baking, crafting and even just their faces being used on platforms to sell her As Ever products.
Meghan’s entire ecosystem is being sold through her personal and As Ever channels on Instagram - a platform that her husband must surely loathe.
Their team would argue that carefully controlled images of their children are totally compatible with both Harry’s campaigning (and wish for privacy) and Meghan’s quest for sales.
I would say that’s for the birds. Many celebrities rarely mention their children, let alone post pictures of them. We don’t even know the names of our Prime Minister’s kids, let alone what they look like.
This feels like complete hypocrisy to me - just another example of the Sussexes having their cake and eating it.
This feature first appeared in Woman magazine. Subscribe now and get your first 6 issues for £1.
