Harry and Meghan have been accused of hypocrisy (Image: Getty Images)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle dramatically quit Britain to protect their family’s privacy – but it seems when it suits them, privacy goes in the bin. And Meghan’s decision to post a picture of Harry holding Princess Lilibet with her face for all to see has been blasted by some on social media as rank hypocrisy.
Meghan Markle has been scrambling around the floor of irrelevance since her cringy ‘With Love, Meghan’ Christmas special was panned – with Netflix not commissioning a third series. In the past Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, have not only travelled the world championing social media safeguarding but Harry has fought High Court cases over his privacy and family security.
So you can imagine it looks a bit odd when on Valentine’s Day, Meghan finally posts a picture of Lilibet’s face for all to glare at.
Don’t get me wrong, the endless pictures of the back of Archie and Lilibet’s heads were a bit weird in the first place.
If I was obsessed with shielding my children’s privacy I simply wouldn’t feature them at all in any social media or PR post. Why even include the backs of their heads?
It was clear they wanted to project the image of a happy and perfect family, but for what reason? Why would they care?
Read more: Royal fans rage about Meghan Markle’s new snap of Princess Lilibet
Read more: Everybody says the same thing about Lilibet in Meghan’s Valentine’s Day post
No UK media has sought to publish pictures of Archie and Lilibet’s faces – they would never actively breach a child’s privacy.
Archie is just six years old, Lilibet even younger at four. We would all assume they would shield them from the world – and social media is that world – until they were 18 and adults.
So Meghan’s decision on Saturday, February 14 to share a picture of Lilibet to the world on Instagram is frankly bizarre.
Just two days earlier Harry had tearfully thanked bereaved families – mounting a legal challenge against two of the world’s biggest tech companies – for “telling your stories over and over again”.
Prince Harry made the remarks to parents gathered after the start of a landmark trial in California that will examine whether Instagram and YouTube damage young people’s mental health.
The families are alleging that the online platforms are addictive by design. Lawyers for YouTube and Meta, which owns Instagram, reject the allegations.
His remarks come after the prince launched a campaign for stronger protections for children from the dangers of social media last year.
So it’s then very baffling timing to purposefully – just 48 hours later – use Instagram to broadcast your daughter’s face for the world to see for the very first time.
I bet those US families – that Harry had just been praising for their legal challenge to Meta, who own Instagram, on behalf of the world’s young children – were pretty confused by the post and its timing.
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Meghan Markle Valentine’s message to Prince Harry with Lilibet (Image: Meghan Markle/Instagram)
I’ve attached Meghan’s picture here as millions around the world have now seen it – and it’s still up on her Instagram page.
It shows Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, holding the couple’s four-year-old daughter in his arms. Lilibet is dressed in a pink dress with matching tights and is clutching a bouquet of balloons, while Harry looks at her with a broad smile.
The vomit-inducing caption reads: “These two + Archie = my forever Valentines.” Sick bucket to aisle seven please!
One social media user posted: “Well that didn’t take long did it? Showing the kids’ faces now. So after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moaned on and on about leaving the Royal Family for ‘privacy’ wanting to give their kids freedom.”
Another follower parodied language from evil Darth Vader in the original 1977 Star Wars movie: “The hypocrisy is strong with this one.”
Another post reads: “Haz was just fake crying about the dangers of social media and children and a day later they post this! Just proving what lying hypocrites they are.”
Some might brand it hypocrisy – others might say it’s plain odd. I think it was a deliberate marketing ‘Sussex Brand’ pivot. Doing it on Valentine’s Day was no accident.
One royal insider said after Megxit Harry was “adamant about privacy” with the rule – “no faces, no exposure, no brand strategy around the kids”.
Now this has morphed into the classic marketing strategy of ‘investing’ the public in their family as a brand by using their children.
Clearly when it comes to ‘Brand Sussex’, some moral stances can simply be chucked straight out the window.