‘Real reason’ Meghan Markle never shows her children’s faces revealed | Royal | News
Since moving to the US six years ago, the Sussexes have rarely shared photos of their children’s faces. But recently Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet have been featured more prominently on the Duchess’ Instagram account, without their faces ever being shown.
Lilibet’s face has not been shown publicly except for her first birthday portrait in 2022.
The closest we came to seeing her face was in February, when Meghan shared a photo of Prince Harry holding “Lily,” with half of her face visible to the camera.
Fans on Reddit claimed this was due to California laws aimed at protecting the children of actors and other creators from being monetized 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.
Under the new law, if a minor is involved in at least 30% of a “vlogger’s” paid online content in a month, a portion of their income must be protected in locked trust funds until they turn 18.
Both laws are part of the California Child Actors Act.
But according to your fans redditIf children’s faces are not shown, “influencers” are not required to pay compensation.
One user said: “Turns out California has a law called the ‘Child Vlogger Bill of Rights’ that requires parents to put money into a trust fund for children featured on social media for money-making purposes.
“However, there is a loophole in that if you do not show children’s faces you are exempt from this law. This is another possible reason why children’s faces are always hidden.”
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.
Since her fourth birthday last year, Meghan has mentioned or featured Lilibet at least 13 times in 53 posts on her personal Instagram page.
In June alone, Lilibet was mentioned or featured in five out of eight posts.
