Rebel Wilson has stirred up controversy by calling out Prince Harry and Meghan Markle over a sensitive topic: the lack of photos of their children, Archie and Lilibet. Despite living very public lives since stepping back from royal duties, Harry and Meghan have been extremely private when it comes to pictures of their little ones. Apart from a few official photos released on birthdays and holidays, we rarely see images of Archie and Lilibet shared by their parents.
This privacy stance was fine for a while, but now Aussie actress and comedian Rebel Wilson has publicly questioned it in a rather shocking way. During a recent interview promoting her new film, Rebel was asked about Harry and Meghan. Instead of commenting on their work or latest controversies, Rebel went straight for the jugular by directly asking, “Where are your kids?” She continued by saying, “I find it really strange that these two publicly preachy people who are all about saving the world and helping the environment and little lost children everywhere, they don’t show their own kids. So where are they? What are they doing with them? It’s really mysterious.”
Ouch. Those are some pretty blunt accusations Rebel is throwing around. Unsurprisingly, her comments have ignited a heated debate online. Some praise Rebel for putting the spotlight on Meghan and Harry’s apparent hypocrisy, while others say the couple’s parenting decisions are none of her business.
For their part, Meghan and Harry have yet to publicly respond to Rebel’s provocative remarks. An insider close to the couple tells me they were blindsided by Rebel’s direct challenge over their children’s privacy. They were not expecting such a direct question.
Of course, Rebel does raise some fair points worth examining as well. Harry and Meghan love preaching about issues like environmental sustainability but show very little evidence of actually involving their own offspring in the causes they champion. We rarely see family photos of the Sussexes out and about with Archie and Lilibet participating in activities like beach cleanups or nature walks. Their kids are almost never present helping out at the charitable events and conferences Harry and Meghan love headlining. If they want to portray themselves as role models for responsible parenthood, some argue they need to model that behavior for their kids rather than keeping them hidden away from view.
So, there is definitely some hypocrisy that can be perceived in how publicly involved Harry and Meghan are versus their reticence to show Archie and Lilibet engaging in similar philanthropic activities. I can understand Rebel calling that discrepancy out, even if she may have gone about it too aggressively in this case.
On the flip side, their supporters say Harry and Meghan are only trying to give their kids as normal an upbringing as possible despite their fame. As any parent knows, that includes protecting children’s privacy wherever you can. Also, being in the public eye from a young age could potentially damage Archie and Lilibet’s mental health long-term. So, it’s a complex issue with reasonable perspectives on both sides.