People: Prince Harry ‘has been reluctant to show his children publicly’

The Sussexes have not issued or released any new photos of their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, in a couple of years. There many never-before-seen photos of the kids in the Harry & Meghan Netflix series, but they were mostly baby pics and few pics of their full faces. While there have been some paparazzi photos of the kids in Montecito, there are laws in the UK and in Europe about publishing pap photos of kids (the kids’ faces have to be blurred out). Basically, I haven’t seen Archie or Lili’s faces in more than two years. I’m fine with it, honestly. I wish Harry and Meghan could show off their beautiful family all the time, but I understand why they don’t. In case anyone needs it underlined, this was included in People Magazine’s cover story this week:

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are keeping Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet out of the limelight over concern for their children’s safety. As Harry fights for increased security for their family of four, the echoes of the 1997 death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a high-speed car chase weighs heavily, particularly now that he is a parent.

“Harry has been reluctant to show his children publicly, not out of a desire to hide them but to protect their privacy and safety from potential threats,” a friend tells PEOPLE in this week’s exclusive cover story. “He wants them to lead as normal a life as possible without the fear of kidnapping or harm.”

The friend adds, “As a dad and husband, Harry is determined to ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself.”

Multiple well-placed insiders in Prince Harry’s circle tell PEOPLE that the Duke of Sussex believes his father, King Charles, has the power to reinstate his security Buckingham Palace will not comment on security provisions, but a palace source tells PEOPLE the notion that Harry’s security is in the King’s hands is “wholly incorrect” The issue has shifted their conversation from frustration to “complete silence” from the King, says the friend.

[From People]

What’s a little bit funny to me is that Harry has put himself in a position to keep his kids out of public view for however long he wants, all while his brother is stuck in a dying institution and being forced to use his children as human deflection shields. William and Kate have trotted out their kids constantly in the past three years, to the point where even the Mail called out the “overexposure” of those kids. The Wales kids are treated (by the press) like they’re property of the state. Harry looks at the situation with the Wales kids and you know he’s doing deep sighs of relief that he can protect his kids from all of that. He’s probably thankful every day that he’s not trying to raise his children in the UK, where they would constantly be compared to the Wales kids.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Netflix, Sussex Royal IG and Misan Harriman/The Sussexes.