Not much is known about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s two children, Archie and Lilibet, who were born in 2019 and 2021 respectively. Aside from a few pictures where their faces cannot be seen, the siblings have essentially been protected from the public eye since they were born.

From what we have seen, however, we know that both Archie and Lilibet have their father Prince Harry’s signature ginger hair. And from Meghan Markle’s latest Instagram post, we know that they have her signature American accent.

In a clip of Lilibet sampling her mother’s infamous strawberry jam, Markle asks, ‘What do we think, Lili?’ and she replies, ‘I think it’s beautiful’ with a Californian accent. Earlier this year, Markle shared a tribute to the family’s late beagle, Guy, on Instagram that included a video of her children singing to the dog. In that clip, Archie can be heard saying ‘he might fall’ in the same accent.

Of course, none of this is particularly surprising – Archie moved from England to California when he was a baby, and Lilibet has lived there all her life. It would cause an international uproar if Prince Harry started to say Americanisms like ‘sidewalk’, ‘commercial’ and ‘horseback riding’, but Markle has always stood proud in her American roots. Despite being raised by both parents, there’s no doubt Prince Harry’s Englishness is overshadowed by their day-to-day environment in the lush and luxurious hills of Montecito.

What’s interesting is how curious people are to know more about the elusive royal siblings. The accent video, for example, has had international pick up. Lilibet’s voice has been called ‘adorable’ with news stories reporting that we can hear her ‘American accent for the first time’ in this ‘rare video’. It proves just how little we see, or hear, of them.

Unlike their elder cousins, the three children of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Archie and Lilibet have enjoyed a unique kind of privacy throughout their childhoods so far. No one can be sure of what they look like, even Markle’s Netflix series about the art of hosting, With Love, Meghan, was shot at an external venue to protect the privacy and security of their home, and they never attend public events.

Given Prince Harry and Markle’s own fraught relationship with the media, it’s unsurprising that they want their children to have a different experience. Almost ten years into her relationship with Prince Harry, Markle remains one of the most criticised and trolled individuals in the world and Prince Harry has taken the British tabloids to court numerous times over the unlawful intrusion into his life. All of which fuelled their decision in 2020 to step down as senior working royals and move to the US – somewhere they can give their children a better quality of life and where privacy is an option even if it’s not guaranteed.

The obscurity of Archie and Lilibet stands in direct contrast to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, whose childhoods have been distinctly public. Along with annual birthday portraits shared with national media outlets, the Prince and Princess of Wales’ children are public figures who attend official events and regularly appear on their parents’ social media channel. For them, at least for now, living a life entirely free from the media is not possible. Even on a private family skiing holiday in April, they were trailed by the French paparazzi both on the slopes and around their private chalet. They are, in many ways, seen as commodities of the crown.

Prince Harry’s childhood was no different. In fact, he was only 12 years old when he attended the royal ceremonial funeral of his mother, Princess Diana, where he was expected to stand for photocalls by the flowers left in her honour and walk behind the coffin in front of a global audience of 2.5 billion people. His teenage years were no different – every relationship, mistake and decision played out in the papers, opening him up to an unfathomable degree of judgement and scrutiny.

Harry and Markle might offer a few glimpses into their life at home as a family, especially now that Markle has rejoined Instagram, but they are also proof that, given the option, protecting their children’s privacy is paramount. They have both learned the hard way the psychological toll being in the public eye can take.

This is something they want for all children too. In fact, they are currently campaigning for stronger protections for children from the dangers of social media. Last week, the couple unveiled a memorial in New York City which is dedicated to the memory of children whose families believe harmful material online contributed to their deaths. ‘We want to make sure that things are changed so that no more kids are lost to social media,’ Prince Harry told BBC Breakfast in New York. ‘Life is better off social media,’ he added, saying that he was ‘grateful’ that his children were still too young to be online.

Archie and Lilibet are only six and four years old, so there is still plenty of time before Harry and Markle face the dilemma of whether to allow them to have social media accounts. If and when they do, they have the added, unenviable task of teaching their children about the intense level of attention, scrutiny and speculation they are likely to experience as estranged members of the royal family.

History has a tendency to repeat itself and, sadly, there will come a time when Archie and Lilibet are not so shielded from public view. Harry and Markle are right to stave off this reality for as long as possible. Fans might eagerly await more details about the young royals’ lives, but for Archie and Lilibet’s sake, the less we know the better.