Why Prince Harry is determined to shield Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet from the public eye

Although Meghan Markle has recently offered more glimpses of her children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet remain largely shielded from the public eye, with fans only catching the occasional rare sighting of the young royals.

Even in these rare glimpses, the public has yet to see their faces, a decision that The Sun‘s Royal Editor, Matt Wilkinson, believes stems from Prince Harry’s own difficult experiences with the media during his childhood.

“My understanding of this or up to a certain stage is that Harry would much rather his children were not seen. He doesn’t want them to be papped,” he explained during an appearance on Hello Magazine’s A Right Royal Podcast,

“He’s got this idea that if he takes them outside of Montecito that there’s a horde of us out there trying to take pictures of his kids – they’re not by the way.”

While Harry may want to shield his children from the spotlight, Meghan’s approach is much different with Wilkinson explaining that “she wants her children to have a more kind of California style lifestyle you know take him down the beach, go out, do stuff.”

“She doesn’t want to hide them away and we’ve seen this haven’t we more and more with the use of of Lilibet and Archie,” he added.

Despite Harry’s reported reservations about sharing images of his children with the public that hasn’t stopped Meghan from taking to social media with glimpses of the two young ones.

In a recent photo shared by Meghan, Archie and Lilibet took centre stage. Shot from behind, the image shows Meghan holding Lilibet, her red hair obscuring her face. On the opposite side, Archie hugs his mum, who lovingly places an arm around him.

“Every day is a love story,” she wrote alongside the image.

 

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The photo came after Meghan shared another glimpse into her family life with a heartwarming photo of Lilibet with Prince Harry. 

The image captured the three-year-old sitting comfortably in her father’s lap, while he lovingly kisses the top of her head.

Along with the photo, Meghan shared a message celebrating International Women’s Day, honouring the “strong women around us & the girls with dreams”.

“Happy International Women’s Day!” she wrote.

“Celebrating the strong women around us & the girls with dreams who will become women with vision. Also thanking those who uplift us every day.”

In addition to Wilkinson’s insights, a friend close to the couple recently offered some insight into why Harry and Meghan are so secretive when it comes to their kids, revealing that it’s primarily a matter of safety.

“I think every parent wants to share their kid with the world, but they just can’t,” the friend told US Weekly.

“William’s kids, for example, have way more safety, even though they’re recognizable. And the same doesn’t apply to Meghan and Harry’s children. They know the world wants to see [them but] I would expect them to live smaller lives until that gets sorted, if it ever does.”