Royal Expert Reveals Why Harry and Meghan Are So Protective About Their Photos
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are now said to be demanding final approval on every photograph taken of them. Insiders claim that the unusually strict control comes down to one surprisingly sensitive issue: Harry’s bald spot. According to multiple sources, no image is greenlit for release unless it meets the Sussexes' exacting standards, with particular scrutiny of how Harry’s thinning crown appears under bright lights and high-definition lenses. What began as careful image management has become a near-oversight of their public visuals.
Royal journalist Rob Shuter revealed this via Shuterscoop, citing weigh-ins from multiple Hollywood and media insiders. One Hollywood insider said, “They’re obsessed with image control. Every photographer, every magazine, every event — Meghan’s team insists on approving shots before anything goes public. And it’s not about artistic direction… It’s about Harry’s hair, or what little is left.” Another insider said, “They’ll approve ten pictures and reject a hundred. If Harry’s bald spot catches the light wrong, it’s automatically a no.” While summing it up, a royal insider bluntly expressed, “They left palace life to be free, but now every photo has to be filtered. Meghan calls it ‘brand protection.”
As per sources, the issue is far more sensitive than Harry lets on by joking about it publicly. Behind the humor, insiders claim that the issue privately bothers him. While speaking to OK!, one source shared Meghan Markle’s stance on the situation and said, “She really struggles seeing Harry so self-conscious and wants him to feel confident again. She’s encouraging him to look at all the modern fixes because she genuinely believes he’ll be grateful later.” The same insider added that she doesn’t want Harry to end up completely bald like William and claimed, “Meghan jokes that if Harry loses too much hair, she’ll feel like she’s sleeping next to William.”
Industry experts believe that the concern is tied to broader ambition. As per a Hollywood publicist, “Meghan is desperately trying to create a whole lifestyle brand, and in that world, looks are a kind of currency.” Yet another source close to the Sussexes has claimed there are limits. “He's ruled out transplants and there's no chance he'd ever wear a toupee,” the source said. They added that Harry “could be persuaded to try a buzz cut. It’s clean, confident, and still true to who he is.”
But in the public eye, both Harry and Prince William have consistently maintained a sense of humor surrounding male pattern baldness. The former also addressed his and his brother’s balding in his memoir, Spare. While writing about the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip, he wrote, “I looked at Willy, really looked at him… his alarming baldness, more advanced than my own.” Yet new revelations suggest that the jokes mask a far more serious reality behind closed doors. In Harry’s case, image control is paramount, where his bald spot, according to Shuter, is receiving "more security than the crown jewels."