Meghan Markle warned over Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet | Royal | News
This comes just days after he gave a passionate speech in Switzerland about the risks of social media to children’s online safety. Following the backlash, a spokesperson for the Duchess told Newsweek: “The Duchess has always been clear that there is a difference between sharing moments from her life and exposing her children to public scrutiny.
“By hiding their faces, they demonstrate the principle they stand for: providing children with privacy, agency and protection in an increasingly digital world.
“Far from being contradictory, by hiding their faces it actually reflects the message he conveyed in Geneva: While parents can take conscious steps to protect their identity, privacy and digital footprint, they can also choose to share their family experiences.”
But now a child psychologist has argued that while hiding a child’s face online may add a layer of protection, online security is “not an absolute”.
Senior educational child psychologist and founder of Hall & Co Educational Psychology Services, Dr. Sasha Hall said: exit: “Rather than focusing solely on whether a face is visible, parents may benefit from considering what information the image reveals and whether their child would be comfortable with that photo remaining online for years to come.”
Clinical psychologist and family therapist Dr. Martha Deiros Collado echoed the same view, adding: “If you blur the face in the photo, it may improve children’s online safety, but it may not do much for their privacy.”
Ms Hall added: “Children only get one childhood, and protecting their privacy today helps them preserve their ability to make their own choices about their digital identity in the future.”
Meanwhile, fans on Reddit claimed that Archie and Lilibet’s hidden faces were due to California laws aimed at preventing children of actors and other creators from monetizing their assets online.
Two new laws, House Bill 1880 and Senate Bill 764, went into effect in January 2025 and provide legal and financial protections when the focus of content monetized by influencers, or “vloggers,” is a minor.
Both laws are part of the California Child Actors Act.
It is unknown if this is the real reason behind Harry and Meghan’s decision to hide their children’s faces.
Notably, none of the new laws specify whether minors’ faces must be shown, but they do say that at least 30% of “the vlogger’s paid video content or the vlogger’s paid visual content” within a month must include “the likeness, name, or photograph of the minor” for compensation to be required.
