EXCLUSIVE: Meghan Markle 'Expertly Curating Her Children's Online Profiles' to 'Make Them Into Dream Clickbait and Manage Them for Maximum Brand Value'
Meghan Markle's handling of her kids' social media presense has been called out.
Nov. 28 2025, Published 5:40 p.m. ET
Meghan Markle is facing fresh accusations she is ruthlessly "expertly curating her kids' online profiles for maximum brand value," after releasing a new set of half-obscured images of Archie and Lilibet in the same week she expanded her growing online retail operation.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the latest controversy kicked off when Markle posted a Thanksgiving-themed photograph of herself with Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4, on her As Ever and Instagram accounts, with the children's faces once again carefully turned away from the camera in what has become her trademark visual style when it comes to teasing the world with images of her kids.
Privacy as a Marketing Tool
Markle released new half obscured photos of her kids, Archie and Lilibet, on Thanksgiving.
An hour later, she unveiled a new ShopMy page promoting clothing and accessories she selected herself, a commercial move critics say weaponizes the children's mystique for marketing traction.
The approach echoes a pattern observers have noted for years – photos of the children "shown, but not really," revealing them "just enough to spark fascination, curiosity, and clicks."
One critic familiar with Markle's digital strategy hit out: "This controlled-glimpse aesthetic is not about privacy – it's about maximizing value.
"She is making them into dream clickbait, and managing them for maximum brand value."
The same source argued the duchess "curates their visibility like any influencer-parent managing content assets" and predicted she will soon be setting them up with their own social media accounts to make them "online earners" capable of attracting small fortunes for posting branded content.
The 'Drip-Fed' Image Strategy
Markle posted the images with her children's faces turned away from the camera.
Journalist Tom Sykes backed up the insider's take on Markle's approach, too.
He blasted on his The Royalist Substack account: "Meghan's children, I have long argued, are being sold by the inch, their images drip-fed to the punters as part of the lifestyle she is selling. And, right on cue, a special Thanksgiving offer has been rolled out."
"The kids appear in the now-familiar format: backs to the camera, faces obscured a little bit, turned in ¾ profile, always just out of reach – but never actually private," Sykes continued.
"It's the same routine every time: Meghan shows the children, but not really. Reveals them, but not quite, and pretends to be actively protecting them from media intrusion, while still using them to market the Sussex brand in the media."
Curiosity and Commercial Value
A source claimed the former royal treats her children like influencer assets.
"The actual aim of this charade cannot be to keep their identities private, because between the various angles, glimpses, birthday shots, 'accidentally on purpose' leaks, and cutesy Instagram Stories, any normal human brain – never mind AI – can reconstruct their faces without breaking a sweat," he continued.
Sykes said: "At the risk of stating the screamingly obvious: if you really didn't want your children's likenesses known, you wouldn't put their images on the Internet.
"But that's the point. Their images aren't being withheld for privacy; they're being managed for value. I'm now convinced that the fake-private aesthetic – the grainy hands, the backs of heads, the half faces, the heavy cropping – is just an incredibly cynical marketing strategy.
"It allows Meghan to posture as a hyper-protective mother while still releasing images of her kids as content." "She controls the narrative, stokes curiosity, and reinforces the emotional, lifestyle-brand intimacy she trades on (all big ticks with digital marketing execs.)"
Prince Harry 'Seething'
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Insiders said Prince Harry quietly seethed at her tactics.
Insiders have told RadarOnline.com Markle's husband, Prince Harry, 41, has been left "quietly seething" at her use of their kids as they told the world they were quitting royal duties to protect their privacy.
One source claimed: "Her continuing approach to using her children as clickbait is infuriating Harry, but, as usual, what she says goes, and he is left impotently raging. It's just embarrassing considering they made such a big deal about fleeing to the U.S. for the sake of their 'privacy.'"
