Everything Meghan Markle does seems to be under a microscope for royal fans —and some of latest photos has them buzzing like never before.

Standing side by side

Meghan Markle is extremely protective of her privacy, especially when it comes to keeping her and Prince Harry’s children out of the spotlight.

But recently, she did shared new photos of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, capturing a sweet moment from their Disneyland trip earlier this summer, celebrating Lilibet’s fourth birthday on June 4.

The images show six-year-old Archie and four-year-old Lilibet standing side by side, admiring Lilibet’s birthday cake, as well as enjoying the garden and smelling roses.

While their faces aren’t visible, fans immediately noticed the children’s matching auburn hair. Markle captioned the Instagram post: “Thank you @disneyland for giving our family two days of pure joy!” Clips from the trip also showed the family meeting Elsa from Frozen and enjoying rides together.

Prince Harry has joked publicly about the red hair gene in their family. Speaking to Stephen Colbert in 2023, he said, “The Spencer gene is very, very strong. I actually really, genuinely thought at the beginning of my relationship that should this go the distance and we have kids that there’s no way the ginger gene will stand up to my wife’s genes, but I was wrong! Go gingers.”

But red hair also comes from Markle’s side: her half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., had striking copper hair, and her uncle Fred Markle also shares the auburn shade.

Fans quickly flocked to social media to discuss the kids’ hair. Some couldn’t get over the resemblance to their dad.

“Lili’s hair is something else,” one X user wrote.

Another noted, “Archie’s hair looks dark red.”

Others broke it down further: “I think Lili is currently a strawberry blonde. The way they lean into each other, you can tell the kids are close.”

A fourth fan added, “Archie is not ginger, Archie has that beautiful auburn/copper hair, gorgeous and Lilibet does look a strawberry blonde.” Others chimed in to remind fans, “Red hair comes in many shades too!”

But not all reactions were positive.

Some critics questioned whether filters were enhancing or altering the children’s hair color. “I think the photo has been filtered. I don’t believe their hair is that colour. It doesn’t match other photos,” wrote one user, adding, “And she very much wants to portray them as royal children. Red-haired like daddy.”

Others raised doubts about the changing shades in different photos over time:

“There are redheads in my family. Not one of them started out with very dark brown hair, then changed to ginger…they were born with, and still have, the same shade of ginger hair. Even taking into consideration the various lighting conditions, the Montecito kids’ locks could NOT change colour as dramatically as theirs do time after time.”

Some even suggested a deeper motive behind the focus on the kids’ red hair. “This is all about Megan,” one user wrote. “She really doesn’t give a d** about her children. She gets off on hanging their toes over the balcony… but using them for her own gain all the same. Disgusting.”

The new images, meant to share a joyful family moment, have once again sparked a storm of debate — proving that when it comes to the Sussex kids, nothing escapes scrutiny.