‘Stalk their every move’: Paparazzi shots reveal Meghan and Harry’s huge mistake

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are increasingly being targeted by the paparazzi – putting the royal escapees in a serious bind.

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Just who is the most famous royal dog?

For a very long time it was Boy, Prince Rupert’s white poodle, who famously fought alongside him during the English Civil War in the 1640s, was widely believed at the time to have magical powers and was the first official dog attached to the British armed services.

In the 20th century he was superseded by Her late Majesty’s truly iconic corgi Susan and her more than 30 descendants who ended up appearing on the cover of Vanity Fair and being flown by private plane.

However, today there is a new top palace pooch – Guy the rescue beagle, owned by Meghan,

the Duchess of Sussex.

In the last five years, Guy has moved from Toronto to London, travelled with Her late Majesty, lived in two royal residences, relocated to the West Coast, appeared in a Netflix series and is now being subjected to that most Hollywood of experiences – being papped.

Last week, Guy and Meghan headed to their local Montecito farmers’ market where the duchess was pictured shopping for flowers and sampling honey.

Meghan Markle and Lilibet were snapped at Fourth of July celebration. Picture: rosewoodmiramarbeach/Instagram

Lilibet was also seen at the same event with her dad. Picture: Backgrid Australia

It would have been quite lovely, except for the fact that the duchess’ outing marked the seventh time in only two months that she had been photographed doing nothing more extraordinary than going about her life.

There is irony and there is irony – because Meghan and husband Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex decamped from the UK in part to escape the British press, and have instead found themselves in the crosshairs of US snappers who increasingly seem to stalk their every move.

Think of this as a sort of adios-Limey-frying-pan, hello-Californian-fire situation.

These shots of Meghan and her pup are just the latest instance of she and her family being stealthily photographed while out in public, including the her along with the duke and their daughter Princess Lilibet at a Fourth of July parade, the Sussexes walking to their car, Meghan walking to a car avec a stock-standard burly guard, and the duke and duchess heading out for some nigiri.

The couple were papped leaving an office plaza earlier this month. Picture: @KarlLarsenPhotography/Backgrid

Here’s the real kicker – it’s not just that the Sussexes appear to be targeted by the roving paps with increasing frequency, but that it’s happening at a time when they are doing absolutely nothing newsworthy.

Sure, their career travails have been making headlines, but otherwise the duo’s greatest achievement of late would have been staying zip-lipped for what feels like an unusually lengthy period of time. No podcasts, no interviews, no charity outings.

And yet, since March, they have also been photographed while out to dinner and lunch in Los Angeles, as well as said big car walks and sushi din-dins. Meghan has also been snapped hiking with friends and having a day out with daughter Lili.

In April, the duke and duchess were also photographed at an LA Lakers basketball game surrounded by staffers and in May they were caught up in that paparazzi imbroglio in New York that was, according to them, “near catastrophic”.

In May they were caught up in that paparazzi imbroglio in New York that was, according to them, ‘near catastrophic’. Picture: MEGA/GC Images

The Sussexes have been papped more in the last four months than William and Kate and their family have been in the last four years. Pictured: Raymond Hall/GC Images

By my estimation, the Sussexes have been papped more in the last four months than William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their family have been in the last four years.

This is the brave new world of living la vida Sussex – where they are targeted by the freelance shooters even when they are just going about their everyday, unremarkable, 1000-thread count Egyptian cotton lives.

So is this onslaught an indication of what lies ahead for Harry and Meghan and their kids when it comes to the paparazzi?

While the duke and duchess might divide opinions like Vegemite to the power of Avatar, the world is obsessed with them. Whether they are adored or abhorred or seen as saints or sacrilegious sinners, vast swathes of the planet are totally and utterly hooked on them.

The couple were recently photographed going out for sushi in Santa Barbara. Picture: TMZ/Backgrid

It’s a situation the duke and duchess have only unintentionally stoked in recent times by taking their truth and stretching it out for a six-part TV series and 400-plus page memoir. They fed the people’s hunger for them via Netflix and Spare and the end result is an insatiable public appetite for them.

I’m not saying this is right or fair, especially (bold and double underlined) when it comes to Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

However, ask yourself – when was the last time you saw a paparazzi shot of Kate? Sure, these sorts of covertly snapped images do occasionally pop up, but for a woman who, until last year, lived in central London, only a few hundred metres from the Daily Mail offices in Kensington and who lives a very normal life, they are noteworthy for their rarity.

(The most recent that I am aware of are from early 2022, when she was snapped leaving Sloaney department store Peter Jones).

That’s not a reflection of the lack of public interest in Kate, but of shifting attitudes in Britain towards the sort of marauding, carnivorous paparazzi of the 90s. If the princess today faced the sort of onslaught that Diana, Princess of Wales did, then there would be a swift and vociferous backlash from the media-consuming public. That extreme level of intrusion is no longer acceptable.

But that’s the situation in the UK.

Meghan was also pictured during a tense phone call … Picture: CB/CB/Backgrid

And out hiking. Picture: Backgrid Australia

To misquote George Bernard Shaw, “The British and the Americans are two great peoples divided by a common tongue … when it comes to the paps”.

It feels like, in recent months, the temperature is inching closer and closer to boiling point on this front. Since landing in North America, the Sussexes have repeatedly called in the lawyers to try and protect their privacy, but it feels a bit like trying to hold back a tidal wave with an esky lid.

Just to really double down on the irony here, on the same day that the new Meghan photos came out, Kate was in London doing her usual summer job of Watching The Tennis In Dresses. (I don’t know how she does it …)

But here’s the thing – when it comes to both the duchess and the princess, two women separated by a literal and a figurative ocean, they are united in that the reality they both face is not what they want.

The pair were also snapped at a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies on April 24. Picture: Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images

Meghan has not gotten some peaceful life where she can waft around the toney environs of Santa Barbara putting her titanium Amex to work before repairing home to polish her collection of Emmys.

And Kate has not ended up in a situation where she and husband Prince William have another co-HRH couple to help share the royal working load with them.

The Sussexes are now facing a major career slump, and the Waleses have been left to single-handedly carry the can for the monarchy.

And Guy? Hopefully he is living his very best life, frolicking in the Sussex family’s seven-acre garden, managing to not over-exuberantly chase a ball into the man-made pond, and working on getting himself an agent to capitalise on all of this brand momentum.

Daniela Elser is a royal expert and freelance writer with 15 years’ experience who has written for some of Australia’s best print and digital media brands.