Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's rare public display of affection. Video / ig23_pao via Instagram
OPINION
The American national anthem closes out with the lines, "O say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave, O'er the land of the free."
For the 200-plus years since those words were written, tens of millions of people have flocked to the United States in search of that very samepowerful promise, emancipation and liberty, and in March 2020 the nation notched up two of its most famous freedom-craving arrivals in history – Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
They might have immigrated via a $220 million private jet, not a leaky boat or on weary foot, but they wanted the same thing as everyone else.
But new images emerged on Thursday showing the Sussexes, along with their 3-year-old son Archie, which call into question just how free their new lives just might be.
See, this week Americans celebrated the 4th of July holiday, that is their independence day, a day that was particularly bad news for Harry's great great great great great great grandfather George III, but excellent news for those wanting to shake off the tyranny of the British monarchy.
There is no end to the fascination with Harry and Meghan in the United States. Photo / Getty
The Sussexes celebrated this day, one all about escaping from regal rule (symbolism much?), in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, according to photos which were shared on Instagram.
The shots in and of themselves are not that remarkable – a very cute little boy sucking a lollipop while watching a parade, Meghan casually but chicly dressed and Harry doing his usual impression of a hirsute thundercloud.
Very occasionally, paparazzi images of the kids emerge such as when the family was surreptitiously photographed arriving at Heathrow's A+++ list entrance last October for a holiday, likely to Jordan. (The family's Christmas card last year and the image released to mark UK Father's Day in June were both taken during that trip.)
But while the troika are heavily protected by both security and two parents' intent on shielding them as much as possible, they are not housebound nor kept squirrelled away permanently behind six-foot walls.
Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis all go to school, tennis lessons at the Hurlingham Club and have been seen shopping with Kate.
And yet how often do we ever really see photos on social media, snapped of the kids taken unawares?
In January, a shot of George taking to the pitch with his school football team appeared on a Cambridge Instagram fanpage, however it was taken by a parent attending the game whose account is set to private.
Beyond that, if you dig really hard you can find some social media, you can find a short video, shot by a person walking in Kensington Palace Gardens years ago, showing George and Charlotte riding their bikes inside the private gardens of the Palace.
For the last five years these kids have been raised in the very centre of London (and less than 1km away from the head offices of the Daily Mail) and yet they are by and large left totally alone to get on with the business of growing up.
It's not that eagle-eyed locals lack opportunities to record or photograph the Cambridge Three, but be it out of politeness, British reserve or an abiding desire to respect their privacy, people just don't seem to ever do so.
So, what about in the so-called "land of the free"?
While the British press have come in for regular, and sometimes well-deserved, pastings for their treatment of the Sussexes, the tabloid culture in the US is a far cry from that in the UK.
America is home to websites like TMZ and Radar Online which will happily pay the public for smartphone images of celebrities out and about doing such scintillating things as standing, walking and stocking up on loo paper.
Harry and Meghan might not be enjoying Beyonce-levels of popularity (the most recent polling shows that less than half of Americans view them favourably) but there is no end to the fascination with the nation's very own branch of the royal family.
Meghan and Harry live on a seven-acre estate with a pool, tennis court and huge backyard. Photo / Getty
The whole family is, in short, valuable prey for anyone who might come across the family out and about.
(Let me note here in the strongest possible terms I am not for a single second condoning this and think that all children should be strictly off-limits to all snappers, no exceptions. The end. Goodnight. Forever.)
What will it mean for Archie and his little sister Lilibet to grow up in a country where there is a ready market for iPhone snaps of them?
The Sussex family might live on a seven-acre estate but the minute they set foot outside those gates, they are unprotected from the glare of lenses, both professional and amateur.
In the two and a bit years since the Duke and Duchess transplanted themselves to California, we've had photos of Harry on the beach with their dogs, a miserable-looking Harry riding his bike trailed by a Range Rover full of security, the couple going out to dinner with friends on multiple occasions, Meghan shopping in Montecito, Meghan picking her young son up from preschool and most recently shots of the couple leaving neighbour Oprah Winfrey's house.
Meghan and Harry live on a seven-acre estate with a pool, tennis court and huge backyard. Photo / Getty
A huge backyard, children's playhouse, tennis court and a pool might provide more than enough entertainment and space for little ones to play and roam safely away from the gaze of the public and press, but the couple can't keep Archie and Lili cooped up at home forever.
For centuries, America has sold itself to the world as the land of the free – but I'm not sure how free life can or will be for the Sussexes and their kids (especially as they get bigger) when the family represents possible ready cash or instant social media fame for anyone who might spot them in the wild.
George III, contemplating the loss of his North American colony, wrote that there will always be an "emigration of unsettled, discontented, or unfortunate People, who failing in their endeavours to live at home, hope to succeed better."
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