A royal expert has shared crucial insight into the couple.

The couple moved to the USA in 2020 (Image: Getty Images)

A new report has unveiled plans for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children’s futures. The ex-royals have always vowed to protect the privacy of their young children, Archie and Lilibet but now experts are weighing in on a sudden shift. Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four, have spent most of their childhoods being kept away from the spotlight.

When it comes to sharing photographs of the youngsters, the couple often opt to release images that keep their faces out of the shot. However, royal fans were delighted in December when the photograph released by Harry and Meghan to mark Christmas gave them a glimpse into just how big Archie and Lilibet are getting on, with the couple sharing a shot that provided a closer look at Archie’s face than usual.

Harry was seen beaming down at his son and holding the side of the little boy’s face, who, in turn, looked up at his father adoringly, with his arms wrapped tightly around the Duke’s waist. Body language and communications expert Judi James has revealed her insight in an interview with The Mirror. She said that the Christmas photo – where Archie was a little more visible than usual – could be part of a clever plan by Harry and Meghan to avoid something of a “free-for-all frenzy” of public scrutiny when the children are older.

She said: “The children are the central point of the idealistic Christmas photo with the pose showing both parents doting on them, but also keeping them visually ‘locked’ in their fairytale-looking world.

“However, the glimpses here do seem to be a little more open with Archie in particular slightly more visible than usual.”
The expert added: “Perhaps then this is the start of a gradual U-turn to wean the public into more visible glimpses of the children, but without creating any frenzy.”

This process would need to be managed carefully, the communications expert explained, to avoid the children later becoming overwhelmed by interest, reports The Mirror.

“By filming them from back view and from their constant public references to their obviously cherished two offspring, Harry and Meghan will have created what is called a ‘thirst trap’ for royal and celebrity fans.

“The peek-a-boo glimpses have fuelled interest and speculation rather than the kind of anonymity that might have occurred if the whole family had moved off to a low-profile life abroad,” she said.

The family snap came after Meghan and Harry announced that they were making a major professional change, and renaming their charitable foundation, Archewell Philanthropies.

It’s been the couple’s arm for “showing up and doing good” for five years now – but one particular aspect of the statement announcing the new chapter caught attention: a fleeting mention of the Sussex children’s future.

“This charitable entity allows the couple and their children to expand upon their global philanthropic endeavours as a family,” the statement said, and though it was a brief nod to young Archie and Lilibet, it marked something of a change to the couple’s approach – who normally keep their family life very separate from their public brand.

Judi called this a “brief but powerful statement” that “sounds like the two worlds” of public and private “might be primed to collide”.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with baby Archie in 2019 (Image: Getty Images)

And now fresh reports have claimed that the Sussexes are gearing up to give Archie and Lilibet public roles in the future. A source quoted as one of Harry’s “old friends” is said to be “confused” by the move.

They reportedly told the Daily Mail: “Harry and Meghan were always so insistent that their children would be able to make their own way in life without the pressure of expectations or titles. I can’t believe Harry is behind this. It must be Meghan’s influence.”

A source disputed to The Mirror the accuracy of the report, saying: “I do not believe this has come from an ‘old friend of the Duke’.”

However, they did not comment on the claim that Archie and Lilibet could have public roles when they get older.

Judi James says the mention of the youngsters in the charity statement is actually a smart move from Harry and Meghan.

“The fact is their children are growing and will presumably start to have their own opinions about their public profile and visibility, too.

“This inclusion in their ‘endeavours’ plus the Christmas photo might suggest they are prepping for that moment in advance to avoid any free-for-all frenzy.

“The signs from the quote and the photo imply that they will still be very much under the all-encompassing umbrella as a family and under the very watchful, doting eye of their parents.”

Meanwhile, PR to the stars Mayah Riaz told the Mirror that in her view, the brief mention of Archie and Lilibet was a powerful example of “future-proofing” and showed that the couple are focussed on “Legacy over noise, values over visibility.”

The PR expert explained that this wasn’t a “U-turn” in her view when it came to Harry and Meghan’s approach to balancing parenting and their professional lives, but instead, something much more “subtle.”

“I would not see this as a U turn so much as a subtle repositioning,” Mayah explained.

“The Sussexes have always been clear about protecting their children’s privacy and that line has not really changed. What has shifted is the framing of their family narrative. This is less about putting the children in the public eye and more about future proofing the brand.

“Mentioning the children in the context of Archewell is symbolic rather than practical. It signals legacy, continuity and values.

“In PR terms, it says this is not a short-term celebrity project but something rooted in family and long-term purpose.

“You can talk about your children without showing your children, and that distinction matters here.

“The Christmas photo and statement feel carefully calibrated. It is warm, aspirational and values led, especially at a time of year when audiences are more receptive to messages about family and togetherness.

“It positions philanthropy as a shared family ethos rather than just a professional endeavour. That plays well internationally.”

The expert added that the reported criticism that it was “confusing” to bring up the Sussex children in the announcement, “misses the point.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have kept their children away from the spotlight (Image: Getty Images)

Mayah explained, “Privacy does not mean erasure. The children are not being used as props or visually exposed. They are being acknowledged as part of the why. From a reputation management perspective, that is a smart move.

“If anything, this is about control. By defining the narrative themselves, they reduce speculation and stop others speaking on their behalf.

“One line does a lot of heavy lifting. It says we are parents, this work matters to us deeply,y and it is bigger than any single news cycle. In short, it is not a U-turn. It is a quiet statement of intent. Legacy over noise, values over visibility.”

The ways in which the couple have been including their children in their legacy have been steadily increasing over the last year.

With Meghan returning to social media, she has given more and more insight into the Sussex family’s idyllic-looking lives in California, sharing photos of sweet family moments, from visiting a pumpkin patch to meals shared with her children.

The couple have also begun including their youngsters in charitable activities, taking the children to a Thanksgiving event at Our Big Kitchen Los Angeles, where they helped prepare meals for “neighbours in need” over the holiday weekend, showing the couple is keen to get their kids involved in philanthropy from a young age.

In Judi’s view, the statement definitely seemed to signal that the children will be “becoming immersed in much the same way as Diana inducted William, and he in turn is busy inducting his children into his own charitable causes.”