As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle unveiled their official 2025 holiday card, offering a rare glimpse of their two children, the internet wasted no time tearing it apart over certain suspicious details.
Shared on December 19 on the Duchess of Sussex’s Instagram account as part of the couple’s annual festive tradition, the image quickly sparked backlash.
Highlights
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2025 Christmas card, featuring Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, sparked intense online backlash.
- The Sussexes were accused of photoshopping the family image, and Meghan’s sheer dress was also deemed “inappropriate” for the occasion.
- Having faced multiple editing accusations over the years, their recent “mistake” drew comparisons to Princess Kate Middleton’s past Mother’s Day photo controversy.
Critics accused them of yet another photoshopping mishap and blasted Meghan’s “questionable” outfit choice in the image.
“This is not just a fake. It’s a really bad fake,” one furious netizen wrote.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Christmas Card With Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet Slammed Over Possible Photoshop Fail
Image credits: Joe Scarnici/Getty Images
Sharing annual Christmas cards has been a tradition for the Sussexes since their 2018 wedding, with the couple releasing one each holiday season without fail.
In the festive photo, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stood on a whimsical wooden bridge surrounded by greenery, with a narrow stream flowing beneath it.
They were joined by their two children, with everyone dressed in coordinated shades of white, except for Princess Lilibet, who wore a pale blue knee-length dress.
Image credits: meghan
Prince Harry embraced Prince Archie, while Markle held her daughter’s hands, touching her forehead to the four-year-old’s in an affectionate moment.
The former actress captioned the post, “Happy Holidays! From our family to yours.”
As soon as the image was shared on social media, users began questioning its authenticity after noticing a distortion around Prince Harry’s head.
Image credits: meghan
Many pointed out what appeared to be a smudge near his head, while others claimed that a portion of the 41-year-old’s hair seemed to be missing.
One netizen wrote, “What happened with the editing? The back of Harry’s head is missing above the hairline."
Another added, “Right away you can see all the Photoshop mistakes… I may be wrong, but this photo doesn't look right to me.”
Critics claimed that a chunk of Prince Harry’s head appeared to be missing, while the 44-year-old actress was slammed for wearing an “awful” sheer dress
Image credits: The Office of Prince Harry & Meghan Duke & Duchess of Sussex
Others pointed out what they described as the “unnaturally” long feet of both the Duke of Sussex and four-year-old Lilibet, arguing that her proportions appeared inconsistent, especially given that she is younger than six-year-old Archie, who seemed to have shorter feet.
Summing up the speculation in a Reddit thread, one critic wrote, “Archie's also much smaller than lilibet despite being literally inches away. Meghan's forehead has a weird curvature that isn't in any of her other pics and lili is not dressed to match anybody in the photo.”
Image credits: meghan
According to the commenter, “harry and archie are not in the pic, they are photoshopped in. Meghan possibly photoshopped herself with lili.”
Another point of contention was the Suits alum’s slightly sheer ivory dress, which revealed the outline of her back and legs, something several critics deemed “unattractive” and inappropriate for a Christmas card.
“Awful dress. Not only was the picture taken with her see-through dress, she [also] chose this picture as her Christmas card,” one critic wrote.
Image credits: meghan
While the couple has not addressed the latest wave of photoshopping accusations, it certainly isn’t the first time they have faced such claims.
Earlier this year, in May, to mark the seventh anniversary of their 2018 wedding at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, Markle shared an Instagram post that once again landed her in the midst of photoshop allegations.
“The harder they try to make themselves appear natural, the more they fail,” one critic reacted after noticing certain “fake” details in the image
Image credits: meghan
In one of the images from the post, Meghan and Harry were seen facing each other with their noses touching.
However, viewers suggested that the moment was not genuine and had instead been edited into a single image using two separate photos taken during their 2018 tour of New Zealand.
During that visit, the pair performed the hongi, a traditional Māori greeting in which two people press their noses and foreheads together, which critics believe was used to create the anniversary image.
Image credits: The Office of Prince Harry & Meghan Duke & Duchess of Sussex
Moreover, last year’s Christmas card from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex also sparked speculation that the image may have been artificially created.
Their 2024 Christmas card featured a collage of six photographs, including one image showing the entire family together in a park setting.
However, upon closer inspection, viewers claimed to spot several apparent inconsistencies in the image, such as Prince Harry appearing to have six fingers on one hand, dogs that seemed “digitally positioned,” and Princess Lilibet looking roughly the “same height as her brother.”
Image credits: Dan Wootton Outspoken
One observer commented at the time, “Look at this dodgy digitally altered photo Harry and Meghan have released for Christmas! The shadows are all wrong, you can see the digitally altered outline around Meghan and the dogs have been superimposed.”
“Also, are we supposed to believe Lilibet is around six or seven years old or what?!”
Over the years, the couple has faced multiple photoshop accusations, at times even drawing comparisons to Princess Kate Middleton’s own editing backlash
Image credits: The Office of Prince Harry & Meghan Duke & Duchess of Sussex
As Harry and Meghan’s 2025 card was dragged online, netizens also resurfaced past controversies, speculating that this latest “terrible Photoshop” may have been intentional, aimed at stirring a reaction similar to Catherine’s Mother’s Day editing scandal.
For those unaware, in March last year, the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, Meghan’s sister-in-law, sparked backlash after sharing a digitally altered Mother’s Day photo featuring her three children.
Image credits: meghan
The controversy escalated when major news agencies, including the Associated Press (AP), Getty Images, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse (AFP), withdrew the image from their archives over concerns about photo manipulation.
Kate later addressed the situation herself, confirming that the image had been an “experiment with editing” in an apology shared on her X account days later.
Image credits: princeandprincessofwales
“Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.”
“Meghan photoshops because no one will pose in a photo with her. She has been doing it since at least her suits days,” one netizen harshly claimed
