What an adorable picture of Prince Archie — the one on every front page which his affectionate dad posted on Instagram for Father’s Day, the sepia image which showed his eyes, fingers, a bit of nose and, er, not much else.
Sadly, the rest was obscured by Prince Harry’s hand. As the nation squinted from every angle to see whether the infant conceivably had red hair or an upturned nose, it was apparent that this wasn’t a picture intended to gratify anyone’s curiosity.
So what was Harry up to, sharing a photo of his infant son, of whom the country has had barely a glimpse since his birth, in a way that doesn’t actually let you see him?
What was Harry up to, sharing a photo of his infant son, of whom the country has had barely a glimpse since his birth, in a way that doesn’t actually let you see him
In truth, as well as being undeniably cute, it’s another example of the tight control Harry and Meghan have kept over their son’s public profile. The details of his birth were confusing and contradictory, then he was hidden from view for days, before being exposed ever so briefly. If it wasn’t for a photographer politely requesting a minute twitch of the blanket, we really wouldn’t have seen him at all.
It’s natural for Harry to want to protect his son — and those artfully interposed royal fingers are a telling signal — but if he is going to put a picture of little Archie out there, how I wished he’d do it properly, or not at all.
Presumably, there will be Christening photos of Archie in full Windsor lace. And official pictures acknowledge that this family is a public one. But this half-image of Archie Mountbatten-Windsor is neither official nor private: just a little frustrating.
In model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s nicely posed image of a supermodel as mother-on-holiday, she’s holding her child, Jack Oscar, somewhere lovely without an ounce of baby weight in sight
Modern celebs (a group which, of course, includes Harry and Meghan) want you to know they’ve got a fabulous family home life — but they also want to keep the children out of public view. So you see a child from behind, or with face obscured, or hidden by a card. Just enough to push the message of perfection, but not enough to gratify the natural curiosity they’ve just whetted.
Look at the images here: celebrities on Instagram sharing — but not-quite-sharing — their happy home life. There’s British diver Tom Daley, his husband Dustin Lance Black and their
