The Moment
Meghan Markle picked a very specific way to step back onto Instagram for 2026: barefoot on the grass, in Harry’s arms, filmed by their four-year-old daughter Princess Lilibet.
In a new black-and-white video shared to her Instagram on Friday, the Duchess of Sussex is seen dancing hand-in-hand with Prince Harry. They spin, sway, and at one point Meghan literally jumps into his arms like it’s the final scene of a rom-com and not, you know, the backyard of two people who once lived in a palace.
The caption? “When 2026 feels just like 2016… you had to be there.” She credits Lilibet as the cameraperson, turning the whole thing into a very modern royal home movie.
Alongside the clip, Meghan posted a throwback photo from August 2016: she and Harry wrapped around each other in Botswana on what he’s previously described as their third date, camping under the stars for five nights. It’s a deliberate nod to a viral “ten years ago” nostalgia trend where people have been posting old photos of themselves from a decade earlier.
According to the report describing the post, other celebrities like Mindy Kaling, Amy Schumer, Eva Longoria, and Hailey Bieber have all flirted with the same trend. Meghan is jumping right onto that bandwagon, tiara optional.
This cozy content drop comes on the heels of another intimate family moment: a holiday portrait of Meghan, Harry, Archie, and Lilibet shared at the end of last year. It showed Harry cradling Archie’s head while they smile at each other, and Meghan crouched forehead-to-forehead with Lilibet on a bridge. It was the clearest shot yet of the two kids.
And because this is Meghan, the lifestyle entrepreneur era, the dance video doesn’t live in a vacuum. This week she also launched a new As Ever product: a limited-edition “Fell Asleep Here” leather bookmark, made with a small, female-owned UK workshop called Sbri and already sold out.
Oh, and there are reported plans for a full-on cookbook in 2026, tied to her Netflix series With Love, Meghan, plus a possible California cabernet and more non-food products. So yes, the dancing is sweet. It’s also very on-brand rollout.
The Take
I’ll say it: this is Meghan in her comfort zone. Not the royal walkabout; the soft-focus lifestyle montage.
She’s basically built a content recipe at this point: a dash of romance (Botswana cuddle pic), a sprinkle of “my kid shot this” relatability (Lilibet’s camera work), stirred together with a trending nostalgia meme and served alongside a fresh product drop. It’s not accidental. It’s a strategy.
When she writes, “When 2026 feels just like 2016,” that’s not just about love. It’s about brand positioning. 2016 was Meghan pre-palace: actress, blogger, red wine girl with a lifestyle site. Now, in 2026, she’s circling back to that era-only with a prince, two kids, and a Santa Barbara mortgage.
Is the video cute? Absolutely. It’s also carefully curated. Black-and-white filters, bare feet, no logos, just enough affection to look spontaneous but not messy. Think of it as the royal-adjacent version of those couples who post “caught off guard” photos that clearly took 14 tries.
But I don’t think that makes it fake. Meghan has always communicated in mood boards. She’s not giving us raw, she’s giving us edited intimacy-which frankly is what most people over 40 prefer on social media anyway. We don’t need to see the toddlers melting down off-camera.
What stands out to me is how she’s threading her family story straight through her business moves. The As Ever bookmark is all about cozy reading time. The rumored cookbook is about gathering, hosting, “tips and tricks” at home. The Netflix series leans into that same domestic fantasy. Now the Instagram is backing it all up visually: here’s my life, here’s my love story, here’s why you might want my recipes and lifestyle advice.
If the traditional royals are a museum, Meghan is running a boutique. Smaller, more personal, and very much for sale.
Receipts
Confirmed:
- Meghan Markle shared a black-and-white Instagram video of herself dancing barefoot with Prince Harry on a lawn, crediting Princess Lilibet as the one who filmed it, with the caption, “When 2026 feels just like 2016….you had to be there,” in mid-January 2026 (per the description of the post and screenshots reported by a UK outlet).
- She also posted a 2016 Botswana photo of the couple embracing, from around their third date, when Harry has previously said they camped under the stars for five nights (as recounted in past interviews and book coverage).
- A family holiday portrait of Meghan, Harry, Archie, and Lilibet was released at the end of 2025, showing Harry holding Archie’s head and Meghan forehead-to-forehead with Lilibet on a bridge (per the same report on the photo release).
- Meghan’s lifestyle brand As Ever released a limited-edition leather “Fell Asleep Here” bookmark for about $18, made in collaboration with UK workshop Sbri, which describes itself as a small, female-owned, handcrafted leather keepsake maker. Meghan highlighted the partnership and the “made-to-order, natural materials” angle in her As Ever newsletter.
- Meghan previously wrote the foreword to Together: Our Community Cookbook, published in 2018 to support a community kitchen formed after the Grenfell Tower fire, and she authored the children’s book The Bench, released in 2021.
Unverified / Reported:
- There are claims that Meghan will release a dedicated cookbook in 2026 connected to her Netflix series With Love, Meghan, reportedly including recipes like a “single skillet spaghetti,” “rainbow-themed fruit salad,” and her jams and marmalades, plus hosting tips, according to unnamed insiders quoted in a UK tabloid report.
- The same report suggests the cookbook timing may line up with an expansion of As Ever into more non-food products such as candles, and that Meghan may be developing a California cabernet sauvignon, while moving away from earlier crepe and biscuit kits. None of this has been officially confirmed by Meghan, As Ever, or Netflix yet.
Backstory (For Casual Readers)
For anyone who hasn’t kept a spreadsheet on the Sussexes: Meghan Markle, a former actress best known for the TV drama Suits, married Prince Harry in 2018. After a stormy few years inside “The Firm,” the couple stepped back as working royals in 2020 and moved to California. Since then they’ve built a media-and-lifestyle empire: deals with streaming platforms, a bestselling memoir from Harry, Meghan’s children’s book The Bench, and earlier work with a community cookbook after the Grenfell tragedy. In recent years she’s leaned deeper into the lifestyle lane with her brand As Ever, which has included food-focused items and now more home-adjacent pieces like that sold-out leather bookmark.
What’s Next
All eyes now are on how Meghan plays the next few months.
If the reported cookbook is real and penciled in for spring 2026, expect a slow build: more kitchen content, more family-table shots, maybe a recipe sneak peek on social. The Netflix tie-in suggests we’ll see the onscreen version (pretty pantry, candlelit dinners) land around the same time as the glossy photos on your coffee table.
On the business side, watch what As Ever does after the bookmark sell-out. If candles and other non-food products start showing up, that will back up the insider chatter that she’s pivoting away from basic baking kits and into a broader “home sanctuary” vibe. A wine release would fit nicely into her long-standing love of a full-bodied red-remember, her old blog was named after a favorite wine moment.
And on Instagram? Don’t be surprised if this Lilibet-filmed video is the first in a series. Meghan has found a sweet spot: content that looks like a private scrapbook but conveniently supports her public projects. Think of it as the Sussex version of a teaser trailer.
Whether you buy the products or just scroll past the posts, the message is clear: Meghan’s 2026 is about reclaiming the energy of 2016, only this time she owns the narrative and the merch.
Sources: Meghan Markle Instagram post (as described in a UK report), Jan. 2026; UK tabloid report on Meghan Markle’s Instagram and As Ever launch, Jan. 17, 2026; Together: Our Community Cookbook, 2018; The Bench, 2021.
Your turn: Do you see Meghan’s Lilibet-filmed dance video as genuine nostalgia, smart branding, or a bit of both?
Comments