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Meghan Markle’s countryside video has royal experts questioning the Sussexes’ security decisions. “It seems an almost unbelievably stupid thing to do,” The Daily Beast’s royal expert Tom Sykes said on The Royalist podcast.

The Instagram video, posted on September 13, showed Markle, Harry, and their kids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, enjoying the English countryside. It featured a long tree-lined path, a pond, and a bridge. 

Sykes added, “I think it’s a bit ridiculous to say, oh, they just didn’t realize that anyone was gonna, like, geolocate this lake and this bridge and this farm track.” He suggested that “they are creating security risks deliberately to bolster the argument that they want armed security.”

According to Daily Mail Editor-at-Large Alison Boshoff, Harry “will have been advised” to “never disclose that information” because it could make him the target. She then offered two possible explanations. “Either he’s really thick and has forgotten getting that advice, or he remembers getting that advice perfectly well, and it has been, you know, a part of that amazing hand of cards that he’s playing.” 

This came after the Sussexes moved to the Cotswolds after returning from California on August 26. The video grabbed attention because Harry and Markle have often spoken about privacy and security concerns. 

In his 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Duke of Sussex said, “I never thought that I would have my security removed, because I was born into this position. I inherited the risk.” He added the decision was “a shock” and “completely changed the whole plan.” 

Then, in a 2022 interview with The Cut, Markle said, “We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here. We’re not trying to do anything that’s controversial.” In his May 2025 interview with the BBC, Harry said, “For the time being, it’s impossible for me to take my family back to the U.K. safely.” 

He added, “I can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the U.K. at this point.” Meanwhile, RAVEC, the committee that handles royal security, has agreed to review Harry’s current protection arrangements. 

According to ITV News, the review doesn’t automatically mean he’ll regain round-the-clock police protection. It also doesn’t guarantee that taxpayers will cover the cost. RAVEC will also review Markle’s security separately. It’s her first assessment since the couple quit as working royals in 2020. 

Harry’s latest Risk Management Board assessment was completed in July. However, those assessing his case did not know he was about to relocate his family to the U.K. This time, the review will consider his circumstances as a U.K. resident. 

This includes the fact that Archie and Lilibet have now started school in Britain. However, Harry and Markle reportedly removed them from the British prep school after just two days. 

They were then switched to another school following security staff’s concerns about the commute, including traffic and the length of the journey. Harry and Markle lost their automatic taxpayer-funded police protection after stepping down as working royals in 2020. 

Harry took the Home Office to court. The High Court rejected his case in February 2024, and the Court of Appeal backed the decision in May 2025. The judges called his lawyers’ arguments “powerful and moving.” But they didn’t show that RAVEC had acted unlawfully. 

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