Meghan Markle Criticised Over Attempts to Shield Children Online While Manufacturing 'Curiosity Gap'

Meghan Markle is accused of being a hypocrite for sharing a photo of her 4-year-old daughter, Lilibet, with the youngster's back facing the camera. Since she created a new Instagram account, Markle has been sharing photos and videos of her kids, but she rarely shows their faces to protect their privacy.

Royal expert Tom Sykes has called Markle's attempts to shield her children online 'absurd', arguing that withholding a child's face does not protect privacy but instead manufactures curiosity among her 4.5 million followers.

Children's Privacy in Question

Sykes said that Prince Harry's wife is not protecting the privacy of their children by doing so because it just creates a curiosity gap among her followers. The fact that no one knows what Lilibet looks like now would just leave everyone more curious.

'The argument that Meghan does not show Lilibet's face, and therefore protects her privacy, has become absurd. Not showing a child's face does not prevent that child from becoming a social media star. If anything, it manufactures a curiosity gap,' he said.

A Tone Deaf Hypocrite?

Sykes criticised Markle for posting the image just hours before her public engagement. In her speech, Markle said that children are not products and that social media should not shape children's lives. Yet she had uploaded a photo of her own child online shortly beforehand.

'Just hours before this vital event, Meghan chose to post a photograph of herself smirking as her four-year-old daughter, Lilibet, watched her try on outfits. Yes, a woman who is about to stand alongside the world's most senior public health official and discuss the measurable, preventable harms of exposing children to social media has just exposed her own child to social media. The Geneva speech is the rhetoric. The closet photograph is the reality,' he said.

Sykes also described Markle's Instagram account as a public-facing shop window that drives traffic to her lifestyle brand, podcast and Netflix shows. Despite his criticisms, some social media users praised Markle following her speech at the UN.

Royal Fans React to Meghan Markle's UN Speech

Some royal fans called Markle an icon, while others praised the former actress for the contents of her speech. However, others criticised her efforts and questioned her sincerity.

'Calm your farm mate. MM wasn't there cuz she cares about those kids who died. Meghan Markle is such a greedy, complicit conwoman, grifter, pathological liar and emotional abuser. She is the MOST unauthentic and un-organic person on this earth,' one person wrote.

Days earlier, Markle also shared a photo of her children with their faces hidden from the camera. In the snap, Markle is kissing her mother, Doria Ragland, on the cheek, while Archie and Lilibet stood behind their grandmother. The photo was taken at Disneyland and was shared as a tribute to Ragland on Mother's Day.

Weeks earlier, Markle also shared a photo with Lilibet with the young girl's face covered. A similar photo of Lilibet was uploaded on Markle's Instagram account in celebration of Valentine's Day.