Meghan Markle posted two photos of Princess Lilibet on Instagram to celebrate the 5-year-old’s birthday, a day after defending herself against allegations of social media hypocrisy.
Princess Lilibet celebrates her fifth birthday on June 4, and Meghan marked the occasion online with two photos, a family picture and one of the birthday girl by herself among nature.
The Duchess of Sussex has been under pressure since a speech in Geneva in May in which she issued a stark warning about the harm social media does to children. Her spokesperson told Newsweek on Wednesday: “There is a distinction between sharing moments from her life and exposing her children to public scrutiny.”
The duchess returned to Instagram in 2025 and posts photos of her children, but generally with their faces obscured to protect their privacy. This has led to significant backlash, with critics arguing that she is simultaneously claiming to shield them from publicity while inviting attention.
Princess Lilibet’s Birthday Photos
Meghan captioned the two images: “Our dream girl. Happy 5th birthday, Lili 🤍” The first showed Harry holding Lilibet in his arms with Meghan alongside them. The second depicted the princess in a garden. Her face was not clearly visible in the images, in line with the couple’s policy of protecting their privacy.
When Prince Archie, Lilibet’s older brother, turned 7 in May, Meghan posted a photo of her son as a baby asleep on Prince Harry’s chest, a rare image in which his face was visible. Of course, seven years later, he is unrecognizable from his baby photo.
Later in May, Meghan gave a speech to the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, during which she raised concerns about the damage social media does to children. The speech led to allegations of hypocrisy in some quarters.
Meghan’s spokesperson told Newsweek: “The Duchess has always been clear that there is a distinction between sharing moments from her life and exposing her children to public scrutiny. By obscuring their faces, she is demonstrating the very principle she advocates for: giving children privacy, agency, and protection in an increasingly digital world.
“Far from being contradictory, by concealing their faces she is actually reflecting the message she delivered in Geneva: that parents can choose to share family experiences while still taking deliberate steps to protect identities, privacy, and digital footprint.”
Meghan Markle’s Dilemma for Lilibet’s Birthday
The duchess spent many years away from social media but returned in 2025 and posts images of her children online, including for their birthdays.
For Archie’s, she posted a carousel of images from a family trip to Disneyland days after the prince turned 7. Among them was a snap of Lilibet hugging a performer dressed as Elsa from Frozen.
People magazine reported at the time that the trip was for both birthdays, which are almost a month apart. That created the potential for Meghan not to post on Lilibet’s birthday, particularly if the earlier trip was framed as celebrating both children.
Of course, she did not take that option as Thursday’s photos show. That was perhaps unsurprising given her spokesperson’s emphatic defense of her stance to Newsweek the day before.
Meghan Markle’s Speech on Digital Harms
During a speech at the unveiling of the “Lost Screen Memorial” during World Health Assembly week, Meghan centered her remarks on the real-world consequences of digital abuse, highlighting children who died after experiences linked to online bullying and harmful content.
“One day, generations from now, children will look back at this era with disbelief,” Meghan said, “that adults once allowed digital spaces to exist without basic protections for young people.
“But let’s do something now so that they will also look back and see that during this increasingly polarized time—where people can barely agree on basic facts—that beyond politics, or party lines, beyond demographics, incomes, or ideologies, race or religion, we could all universally agree on one thing: we want our children to be safe.
“Let our children look back at this moment, and let them feel proud of us—that we chose something better—for them, and for us all.”
She argued that technology companies have created systems that prioritize engagement over well-being, describing how young users are shaped by “relentless algorithms, exploitative engagement and endless exposure to harmful content.”
Meghan Markle Hypocrisy Allegations
Meghan and Harry have made opposing the harms caused by digital technology a key plank of their campaigning dating to 2020, when they backed a Facebook boycott by Stop Hate for Profit.
However, at the time, they were not on social media. Scrutiny has been growing since Meghan’s return to Instagram in 2025, in particular over her policy of posting photos of their children online with their faces obscured.
In particular, Meghan posted an image of herself getting ready to fly to Geneva for the speech on May 16. The image showed the black suit she would wear for the speech, complete with its Giorgio Armani label, while Lilibet crouched in front of her.
Nick Ede, a U.K. brand and culture expert, told Newsweek: “The day before she went and did that speech, she posted a picture of herself and her daughter and then literally had the Armani label out of the Armani suit that she’s wearing to a very important speech.
“She can commercialize her social media, obviously, as an adult, but it just felt very hypocritical. We know she’s a hypocrite, so there’s no two ways about it.
“This is still the huge problem with Meghan, it is the whole identity crisis. One minute she’s a savior, allegedly, of all children who’ve unfortunately lost their lives through social media and the next minute she’s a social media influencer. So what are you?”
Supporters might counter that she has sought to strike a balance between sparing her children the paparazzi harassment that Prince Harry experienced as a child and maintaining some relationship with fans.
However, Ede was not alone in picking up on the juxtaposition. Left-leaning U.K. newspaper The Independent ran a column headlined: “I’ve had it with the hypocrisy of social media mums like Meghan.”
Journalist Claire Cohen wrote: “‘Posture parenting’ is all the rage…but any fool can see that sharing your emoji-faced little darling over and again betrays their privacy rather than protecting it.”
Meanwhile, The Daily Beast said: “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.”
