In a week where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle suffered another humiliation, when he was revealed to have shared "intimate" messages with a journalist, the wannabe power couple have gone to their default setting and posted images of their children to deflect attention. Meghan took to her official Instagram account to share a new video of her son, Prince Archie, skiing with his dad on a snow-covered slope. The six-year-old can be seen wearing a dark ski suit as he goes down the white slopes behind his father. Meghan wrote: "My boys. Quick learner, Archie! So proud [heart emoji]."

If anyone else had shared such a clip, it would appear genuinely adorable. But in the case of the Duke and Duchess of grifters, it appears to be yet another cynical ploy to get people talking about anything other than Harry's questionable historic Facebook messages. It is their standard trope, used time and again, so much so that people are wising up to its insincerity.

Just a few weeks ago, in early March, although she agreed to relinquish the use of "Her Royal Highness" as part of the 2020 Megxit agreement with the Palace,she sent a gift to a make-up mogul, Jamie Kern Lima, who signed with the honorific.it was announced that the couple were parting ways with Netflix. That sort of news isn't the end of the world, but rather than deal with any fallout, just a couple of days later, Meghan took to Instagram to share an image of her cuddling her daughter, Princess Lilibet, as they sat on a rock at the beach.

The post was ostensibly to mark International Women's Day, but only a very naive observer wouldn't have noticed that the picture then became a talking point rather than the end of the Netflix deal.

Then there was the Valentine's period this year, when Meghan was being mocked over a limited-edition Valentine's bundle from her As Ever range, featuring jam, chocolate, and spreads, for an eye-watering $185. She was also criticised for over hyping announcements on her website. Instead of issuing a statement addressing the concerns she took to Instagram posting photo of Lilibet, showing the tot with red balloons.

In May 2025, she was under fire after it emerged she used her royal title in a manner some experts called "pompous" - despite having formally stepped back from royal life four years previously. Although she agreed to relinquish the use of "Her Royal Highness" as part of the 2020 Megxit agreement with the Palace,she sent a gift to a make-up mogul Jamie Kern Lima signed with the honorific.

No matter. Fully aware that the best way to take the heat off is to share her children, sure enough, just days later, we got candid photos, including one of Lilibet in a crib and Archie with his sister, which Meghan said was to mark her wedding anniversary with Harry.

These are just a few incidents - I could write tens of thousands of words about this without running out of examples. The couple know royal fans will lap up the images and it will generate goodwill for them - no matter how outrageously they have behaved.

While they always keep the children's faces hidden, this could also be seen as another sly tool in their armoury. Harry is said to be hoping he, Meghan, and the two children will be invited by King Charles for some "family time" at Sandringham this summer. He is due to return to the UK in early Julyto mark the one-year countdown for the Invictus Games, to be held in Birmingham in July 2027.

To all intents and purposes, he seems to be dangling the children like a carrot in front of his father to ensure he gets the security he feels he deserves. Posting images of the youngsters adds further fuel to that fire. While they doubtlessly love their children, the couple seem so caught up in their own self-promotion and damage limitation that they are dragging them into their drama.