Meghan Markle is facing renewed scrutiny over how she presents her children online after releasing another set of partially obscured images of Archie and Lilibet during the Thanksgiving period. The photo, shared across her As Ever and Instagram accounts, shows the duchess posing with her two children, whose faces were again turned away from the camera.
The timing overlapped with updates to Markle's curated ShopMy product page and a series of new retail partnerships, raising questions among observers about whether the imagery is being used to direct attention toward her commercial ventures.
Within an hour of the Thanksgiving photo, Markle promoted a new selection of clothing and accessories on her ShopMy portal. Critics argue that the close linkage suggests a deliberate effort to pair family-centered content with promotional campaigns. Supporters counter that Markle is simply maintaining her long-standing approach to protecting her children's privacy, but detractors say the release cadence indicates a pattern that aligns family posts with brand-building activities.
According to RadarOnline, one source familiar with Markle's digital strategy claimed the carefully framed photographs reveal the children "just enough to spark fascination, curiosity, and clicks." The same source accused Markle of turning Archie and Lilibet into "dream clickbait" and managing their visibility for "maximum brand value." Analysts who follow the Sussexes' online activity say the pattern is consistent: birthdays, holidays and milestone moments are often marked with heavily cropped or rear-facing images that reveal only partial profiles.
Digital strategists note that Markle's approach mirrors influencer-style content management, in which a public figure maintains tight control over the visibility of minors while still using selective imagery to feed audience interest. One strategist who has monitored her social media growth said Markle "expertly curates" her children's online profiles. Some observers speculate that Archie and Lilibet could eventually appear in their own controlled channels, a move that analysts predict would attract major attention and sponsorship offers under the Sussex brand umbrella.
Journalist Tom Sykes echoed these concerns in his commentary on The Royalist Substack. He argued that the children are being "sold by the inch" and that their images are "drip-fed to the punters" as part of the broader Sussex lifestyle offering. Sykes noted that the photos follow a consistent style: backs turned to the camera, partial angles of their faces and heavy cropping that withholds a complete view while keeping the content highly shareable.
He further argued that enough glimpses of the children have been released over the years that their full appearances could "likely be reconstructed," a point he cites as undermining the public rationale of privacy protection. For critics, that contradiction reinforces the view that the children's visibility is shaped not only by privacy concerns but by a sophisticated branding strategy.
