Harry & Meghan Urged to Drop a ‘Strange Strategy’ in 2026 — Before It Defines Their Kids' Future

A critic claimed that while the Duke and Duchess stress their children’s privacy, they are also keenly aware of the value they add to their brand.

Meghan Markle is known to selectively feature her children on social media to market her brand, As Ever, while also often calling for privacy around her children. This has sparked accusations of hypocrisy. Weighing in on the same, a critic has argued that while Prince Harry and Markle have stressed that they take their children’s privacy seriously, they are also aware of the value their children bring to their brand. Many have begun to see this as a carefully curated contradiction. 

Richard Eden of the Daily Mail revealed how the Sussexes have “long been campaigners on the dangers of social media, particularly when it comes to children and young people.” The stance was contrary to Markle’s online activity. Eden said, “What we’ve seen is Meghan relentlessly using social media, whether that’s Instagram or other forms to promote her company, and interestingly, we’ve seen them use their children more and more in videos.”

Referring to the viral clip of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet on a family trip to Disneyland uploaded on Markle’s Instagram, the expert said, “You never see their faces full on. You sometimes see a side view, or you often see them from behind.” Eden believes that the selective visibility is intentional. “It just seems a very strange strategy to me,” he noted. Outlining how Markle may be profiting off of this move, Eden said, “They’re definitely very much aware of the appeal of their children. Remember, they insisted on the titles of their children, ‘Prince and Princess’, and to me it looks like they’re exploiting their children for the benefit of Meghan’s company.”

The Sussex kids appeared in a recent Christmas family photo on Markle’s Instagram handle. It showed Archie hugging his father, while Markle bent down to hold his sister, Lilibet, as they stood on a wooden bridge, supposedly in their garden. Additionally, the Duke and the Duchess released photos from Archewell Philanthropies after the rebrand, which also featured clips of the children baking cookies with their parents ahead of Thanksgiving, as part of a local charity. Reflecting on the same, Eden claimed, “Either they shun social media, or they use it. They can’t criticize it on the one hand and then ruthlessly use it, showing videos of their young children.”

Meanwhile, royal expert Hugo Vickers has opined that Harry must be uncomfortable with their kids' exposure to social media, given the couple’s stated commitment to privacy. He told The Sun in September 2025, “He [Harry] ought to be extremely annoyed. Obviously, I don’t know what he thinks, but I think he does what he’s told, probably. What worries me much more, to be quite honest, is what the children themselves are going to think when they get a little bit older, and they realize how they’ve been exploited.”