For weeks, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has been dropping adorable pictures and videos of her rarely seen children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, as she promotes her new lifestyle brand and Netflix show.
Lili, in particular, has been front and centre, with an image of the three-year-old splashed across Meghan’s ritzy new As Ever website (though it has since been removed).
Archie, five, has been heard in the background of his mum’s social media posts since her return to Instagram in January.
And while the kids don’t appear personally in With Love, Meghan, which was released to streaming last week, the duchess refers to them several times across the series.
In episode two, Meghan shows her friend, actress Mindy Kaling, how to throw the perfect children’s party – with actual children conspicuously absent.
Sources close to the Sussex family in California’s Montecito claim “If she’d had it her way, the kids would have been featured on the show.”
If true, it would be an astonishing about-face from the 43-year-old, who has until recently closely guarded Archie and Lili from the public eye.
One insider speculates that while Meghan might have been keen to include footage of the kids as part of her recent rebrand as the perfect housewife and mum, Harry, 40, may have put his foot down.
“Harry is very proud of Meghan over this new show. He’s excited for her to show who she really is to the world,” says a source.
“But he definitely would not have wanted his kids involved. Even letting them appear on social media is a surprising concession from him.”
Indeed, Harry has spoken about disliking growing up in the spotlight, admitting to suffering panic attacks in public and hating being photographed at events.
“Harry knows that the personal aspect of Meghan’s new show will renew interest in her family’s private life, and therefore the children,” says a source.
“In the months after they moved to Montecito [in 2020], people often drove past to rubberneck, which died down eventually. But Harry is worried that with the spotlight back on them, their neighbourhood will be crawling with curious fans.
“While Meghan is out and about promoting her show, Harry’s staying at home hunkered down with the kids until the scrutiny dies away.”
We’re told Meghan understands protective Harry’s reasoning.
“She would have loved to share this special time in her life with her son and daughter, but realises there’s plenty of time for that,” says the source.
“She and Harry have agreed they’ll revisit Archie and Lili’s private versus public lives once they’re old enough to have their own say in the decision.
“Until then, expect Harry to keep them firmly under the radar.”
