Meghan Markle defends hypocrisy claims after sharing images of her children to her 4.6million Instagram followers – despite warning of the dangers of social media

Meghan Markle published new photos of Lilibet on her fifth birthday, warning about the dangers of social media for young people, while defending her decision to share photos of her two children online more often.

In a post titled ‘The girl of our dreams’, the Duchess of Sussex posted the clearest photo of Lili yet to her 4.6 million Instagram followers.

The side profile shows a smiling Lilibet; Her strawberry blonde hair falls in her face and she examines an agapanthus flower at the family’s Montecito mansion.

There is also a touching family portrait of Lili being embraced by her parents while she is in Harry’s arms.

Despite the images showing much of the five-year-old’s face, Meghan insisted she was protecting her daughter’s privacy while sharing important family moments through her spokesperson.

The response comes after Lilibet was accused of hypocrisy last month when she posted a photo of herself sitting at the feet of a wardrobe full of designer clothes to warn about the dangers of social media to children before heading to Geneva.

“The Duchess has always been clear that there is a difference between sharing moments from her life and exposing her children to public scrutiny,” her spokeswoman said.

‘By hiding their faces, they demonstrate the principle they stand for: providing children with privacy, representation and protection in an increasingly digital world.’

Hours after the statement was released, Meghan shared new images of Lilibet to celebrate her birthday.

Meghan Markle celebrated her and Prince Harry’s daughter Princess Lilibet’s fifth birthday with two new photos on Instagram, including this tender family portrait.

Critics were not convinced by the Duchess’s claim.

British branding expert Nick Ede He told Newsweek: ‘As an adult she can commercialize her social media but it felt so hypocritical.

‘This is still Meghan’s biggest problem, her entire identity crisis. One moment, he is claimed to be the savior of all children who unfortunately lost their lives because of social media, and the next moment he becomes a social media phenomenon. So what are you?’

He added of the controversy surrounding the Geneva speech: ‘The day before he left, he posted a photo of himself and his daughter and then literally pulled the Armani tag out of the Armani suit he was wearing for a very important speech.’

Speaking in Geneva on May 17, the Duchess of Sussex said children’s online safety was a ‘public health issue’ at an event organized by the World Health Organization (WHO).

‘Our children are not products, they are not experiments and they cannot be expendable,’ he said He advocated for stronger global protections for children online.

‘Platforms value profits over people,’ he said.

After his ten-minute speech, he hugged and remembered each of the grieving parents who lost their children to online attacks in front of 50 illuminated light boxes ahead of the 79th World Health Assembly.

But the night before, Meghan shared a mirror selfie of herself and her four-year-old daughter on Instagram with the caption: ‘Mummy’s little helper’.

Royal expert Tom Sykes, who is in Switzerland to speak outside the United Nations, said: ‘The hypocrisy is breathtaking. This is a flattering image. This is an empty image. “This is a surprisingly tone-deaf image.”

In an Instagram post, Meghan shared a photo showing her daughter Lilibet helping her pick out an outfit for the UN event, with the caption: “Mum’s little helper.”

Hours later, the Duchess of Sussex spoke about online harms at the Place des Nations in Geneva

He claimed that Lilibet’s “Mother’s little helper” photograph contained at least $250,000 worth of clothing, with an Armani jacket “with the tag clearly visible” in the foreground of the mirror.

He added: ‘The Instagram account is a public storefront: a funnel that directs traffic to lifestyle brand As Ever, its Netflix content and podcast.

‘The claim that Meghan did not show Lilibet’s face and therefore protected her privacy has now become ridiculous. Not showing a child’s face does not prevent that child from becoming a social media star. On the contrary, it creates a vacuum of curiosity.’

Harry and Meghan celebrated their daughter Princess Lilibet’s fifth birthday with a new family portrait, and Lili enjoyed their garden.

The photo, which shows Prince Harry holding Lilibet in his arms and smiling adoringly at the five-year-old with his mother, was shared with Meghan’s 4.6 million followers on Instagram.

Lilibet’s strawberry blonde hair fell on her shoulders, hiding her face from the camera.

Another photo showed the Sussex toddler standing in the garden of the family’s £11million Montecito home admiring flowers.

Meghan’s caption reads: ‘The girl of our dreams. Happy fifth birthday, Lili.’

In the photos, Lilibet is wearing a light yellow sundress, previously seen in behind-the-scenes shots of her mother’s lifestyle brand As Ever.

Looks like Meghan’s ‘mini me’ develops a style similar to his mother’s; In the photo, she was wearing a thin gold bracelet very similar to the Duchess’ £5,800 Cartier ‘Love Bracelet’.

Like her seven-year-old older brother Archie, Lilibet spent the first four years of her life shielded from the spotlight while growing up thousands of miles away from the Royal Family.

Such was the Sussexes’ commitment to privacy that they never followed up her first birthday portrait (depicting the angelic child basking in the sunshine during a picnic at Frogmore Cottage) with any other official photos showing her face.

When she turned four, Meghan gave fans their first clear look at Lilibet with a black-and-white photo that clearly showed her eyes and the upper half of her face.

Meghan also posted the now-famous video of herself and Prince Harry dancing in a hotel room to encourage Lilibet’s birth, with the Duchess twerking to Starrkeisha’s viral Baby Mama song.

Days later, she documented the family’s two-day Disneyland vacation on Instagram, including the moment Lilibet and Archie met Frozen’s Elsa, as well as a photo of the Duke strolling through the theme park with his daughter.

The social media blitz continued as Meghan paid tribute to her daughter on International Daughter’s Day, gave millions of followers a glimpse into her Halloween celebrations and released the Sussex family’s annual holiday card.

Harry, 41, is shown with his hands clasped protectively around Archie’s head. Father and son look at each other lovingly, both have a smile on their face.

Next to them on a bridge are Meghan and Lilibet. The Duchess leaned down to rest her forehead against her daughter’s as she held both hands.

In the dappled California sun, Lilibet’s face is covered with shoulder-length hair.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry enjoyed a sweet family trip to Disneyland with their kids on May 11 for Archie’s birthday

The Duchess shared a series of photos from the trip on her Instagram account.

In the photos, Lilibet is wearing a light yellow dress that she has previously worn in behind-the-scenes shoots for her mother’s lifestyle brand As Ever.

The little princess has appeared on Meghan’s Instagram page with increasing frequency over the past year

Lilibet and Harry in Meghan’s Valentine’s Day post this year

Although Lilibet’s face was hidden in previous photos, fans finally saw what she looked like in Meghan’s Valentine’s Day post.

In the Instagram photo, Harry was seen smiling while holding the princess in his arms, while Lilibet was seen holding a bunch of red balloons.

Her fans were extremely excited when people commented on her red hair being ‘like her father’ and ‘beautiful just like her father’.

Meanwhile, Archie’s face has not been seen in any photos since the Sussexes’ Christmas card in 2021.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have advocated for stronger protections for children online, including backing a social media ban on under-16s in Australia.

In April last year, the couple opened a memorial in New York for young people who lost their lives due to the harmful effects of social media and met families who believed that social media played a role in the death of their young people.

Nearly five months later, Harry warned while speaking at a gala in New York that the impact of social media on children was ‘one of the most pressing issues of our time’.

At the same event, Meghan said that she and her husband often discuss how to protect their own children as they grow up.

Commenting on Lilibet’s increased frequency of appearances on Meghan’s Instagram, branding expert Megan Dooley told the Daily Mail there was a “notable shift” in the Duchess’ social media policy that could be linked to her brand.

The head of London-based TAL Agency said: ‘We have certainly seen a noticeable change in Meghan’s approach to featuring her children on public social media, especially when we compare this with her and Harry’s previous commitment to privacy.

‘But a closer look reveals that these appearances, rather than being casual and unplanned, are highly selective and deliberate.’

Rather than interpreting this as a ‘reversal of their privacy-focused stance’, Megan suggested it was a ‘strategic recalibration of what they publish’.

She added: ‘Meghan is allowing more glimpses into their family life from behind the curtain – hand-picked, of course – to support the warm and aspirational positioning of her As Ever lifestyle brand, which is rooted in home, motherhood and authenticity.’