Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Face ‘Hypocrisy’ Claims Over Carefully Curated Family Video After UK Return

Meghan Markle’s Instagram video of her and her family back in the UK that she posted Sunday is hypocritical given their desire for privacy, royal commentator Kinsey Schoefield tells Page Six.Meghan Markle/Instagram

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are facing fresh criticism over the way they balance family privacy with their increasingly public portrayal of life with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

The debate erupted after Meghan shared a carefully edited glimpse of the Sussex family settling back into Britain, including scenes of Harry and Meghan walking hand-in-hand and their children enjoying the countryside. Although Archie and Lilibet’s faces were kept out of view, royal commentators argued that including their activities and private family moments still generates the very attention the couple have repeatedly said they want to protect their children from.

Royal commentator Kinsey Schofield described the apparent contradiction as “striking” and accused the couple of offering a “hyper-curated” version of their family life.

“If privacy is genuinely the priority, the most effective strategy is simple… stop broadcasting your family life to millions of strangers,” she said.

Archie and Lilibet appear in new family footage

Schoefield points out that the couple’s children — Princess Lillibet and Prince Archie — are featured despite Harry previously speaking out about unwanted media attention as a child.Meghan Markle/Instagram

The video offered an unusually personal look at the Sussexes following their return to the UK.

One scene showed Harry and Meghan holding hands during a walk, while another featured 5-year-old Lilibet riding a bicycle as 7-year-old Archie ran alongside her. Another cozy moment showed one of the children resting their feet near a fireplace.

Meghan avoided showing either child’s face.

But Schofield argued that keeping their faces hidden does not completely resolve the privacy issue because the children’s voices, activities and private family experiences are still being presented to a huge audience.

“Archie and Lili are too young to meaningfully consent to having their voices, activities, and private family moments broadcast to millions of strangers,” she said, adding that concealing their faces does not remove the attention surrounding them.

Harry’s past comments come back into focus

Schoefield says, “You cannot deliberately feed that machine and then act astonished or outraged when people want to know more.”Meghan Markle/Instagram

Criticism has also centered on Harry because of his long-standing comments about the impact intense public attention had on him while growing up.

Schofield argued that Harry has spent years discussing the damage he believes media scrutiny caused during his childhood, while now participating in the controlled release of moments from his own children’s lives.

Royal commentator Tom Sykes raised a similar concern, describing the latest video as an attempt to present “glossy family perfection.”

He pointed to comments Harry made in a 2017 Heads Together video about social media, in which the prince discussed how people can portray seemingly perfect lives online and leave others feeling inadequate by comparison.

Meghan previously defended protecting her children

She also noted about Markle not showing her kids’ faces, “Hiding their faces does not suddenly eliminate the attention it generates around them.”Meghan Markle/Instagram

The criticism comes against the backdrop of Meghan’s own previous statements about privacy.

During a 2022 interview, she discussed concerns about paparazzi potentially photographing her children during school drop-offs and pick-ups if they attended school in Britain.

“Sorry, I have a problem with that,” Meghan said at the time. “That doesn’t make me obsessed with privacy. That makes me a strong and good parent protecting my child.”

Archie and Lilibet have since been enrolled at a prep school reported to cost $35,000 a year.

The arrival of the high-profile family has already led to heightened attention around the school community. According to Schofield, parents were reminded not to photograph or film other children without permission or share information about pupils and their families on social media.

Sussexes remain private citizens

The video showed a “hyper-curated” glimpse at their life back in the UK meant to generate more attention, she also told us.Meghan Markle/Instagram

Harry and Meghan’s return to Britain does not mark a return to their previous positions as working members of the Royal Family.

King Charles has made clear that the Duke and Duchess remain non-working royals following their move back to the UK. A palace official said they cannot use their HRH titles and described them as “private citizens with commercial and charitable interests.”

Markle and Harry made the shocking decision to move back to the UK last month after previously stepping back as senior members of the royal family in 2020 and moving to Montecito, California,/ SplashNews.com

Harry and Meghan originally stepped back as senior working royals in January 2020 before relocating to Montecito, California. Their decision to return to Britain has now put their family life under renewed scrutiny.

The latest controversy is therefore less about whether Archie and Lilibet’s faces appeared online — they did not — and more about the broader tension between the Sussexes’ repeated calls for privacy and their decision to selectively share intimate glimpses of family life with a global audience.