Royal Expert Weighs In On Prince Harry, Meghan Releasing Lilibet Photo Despite Insisting On Privacy

A royal commentator has suggested that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may not release new photos of their children in the future following the reaction to Lilibet's birthday snap.

Earlier this month, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a new photo of their daughter Lilibet from her first birthday party, which was held at Frogmore Cottage on June 4 when their family was in the U.K. for Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Royal expert Neil Sean, who has been featured on Fox News, Sky News Australia and several other outlets, claimed in a new video on his YouTube channel that the picture "should have dominated all the front pages around the world, but it didn't really."

"The backlash against this picture was enormous on social media, and this made Prince Harry once again relinquish any ideas about allowing any further pictures to be released. There were quite a few taken allegedly on that particular afternoon," he claimed.

International Business Times could not independently verify his claims.

Since stepping back as working royals and moving to California in 2020, Prince Harry and Markle have rarely shared photos of their son Archie, 3, and daughter Lilibet. They released a picture showing Archie from the back when he turned 2 in May last year but did not share a photo on his third birthday.

The last time the couple released a photo showing both of their children's faces was in December 2021 when they shared a Christmas card featuring the family of four.

Sean cited an unnamed "good source" as saying that the reason why Prince Harry and Markle now rarely share photos of Lilibet and Archie is that "they're not royal children, they're not for sale, and more importantly, they don't need to, now that they've stepped back from being members of the British monarchy."

The royal commentator then said he found it "strange" that Prince Harry and Markle released a new photo of their daughter despite insisting on privacy.

"What's truly interesting is: what are Harry and Meghan now trying to do moving forward with their lives?" he said. "They claim they want to be private, but on other hand, just have to share bits and pieces in order to appease ... the money people at Spotify, Netflix, [the publisher of Prince Harry's upcoming memoir] Penguin Random House? Or is this point-scoring against the British monarchy, who had a spectacular time with their children, particularly on social media?"

"Either way, it looks like Harry and Meghan have unfinished business in the battle for the 'R' factor in children's PR," he continued.

Prince Harry and Markle released Lilibet's birthday photo, which was taken by their friend Misan Harriman, a day after they returned from the U.K. to California on June 5.

The couple was "incredibly touched by the countless birthday wishes for their daughter, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor," their spokesperson said in a statement to People at the time.

Prince Harry and Markle were also "amazed to learn that people around the world made donations" amounting to over $100,000 to the World Central Kitchen (WCK) in her honor," the spokesperson continued, adding that the couple "extended their gratitude to all who have shown support for the organization, which is especially near to their hearts."

The trip marked Lilibet's first visit to the U.K. She was born in California and had yet to visit her dad's home country. Archie was born in the U.K. on May 6, 2019, but hadn't been back since he was 6 months old.

The trip also gave Lilibet the opportunity to meet her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, for the first time.