Why are there so many photos of Meghan in New York when it's a private trip?
Meghan Markle is currently in New York celebrating her baby shower with a group of high profile friends. How do we know? There are a lot of pictures of her there.
Over the past 24 hours, numerous photographs of Meghan and her famous pals - including Suits actress Abigail Spencer, tennis champ Serena Williams, and BFF Jessica Mulroney - have emerged.
But the pictures aren't covert snaps taken by sneaky paparazzi; you can see from the background that photographers have been placed in organised pens to keep them back from the Duchess while she enters and leaves various New York establishments.
Meghan is very used to having photographers follow her at official events, but what's interesting about this is the fact that the trip is a private one. The Duchess has no work commitments in Manhattan which, following recent protocol, would usually mean the press and the public would not be invited to photograph her. On this occasion, however, they have been.
As royal correspondent for the Daily Express, Richard Palmer put it, it's "astonishing that the Duchess of Sussex seems to be organising her own PR in New York with a fixed point for media and nobody from the palace there."
We know from past experience that Meghan and Harry have taken several private trips (both individually and together) that we have only found out about after they've returned. Meghan's trip to Canada last summer being one of them, and the couple's city break to Amsterdam in October being another.
But there may be a very good reason why we're seeing pictures of the Duchess' baby shower trip now, when it goes against typical royal protocol for private trips. According to royal commentator Omid Scobie, reporting for Harper's Bazaar, Meghan made the trip to New York on Friday 15 February.
The Daily Mail managed to capture some exclusive pictures of Meghan disguising herself in a baker boy cap a few days after her arrival, on February 19. After that, a flood of organised paparazzi shots suddenly emerged of Meghan socialising with her friends ahead of the baby shower.
It may be that, once Meghan discovered reporters and photographers had cottoned on to her whereabouts - after she'd enjoyed several days of her trip in peace - she decided to share information on her schedule to ensure pictures were taken in an orderly fashion.
Making information about her appearances public means the Duchess was able to control exactly when and how the press captured her, as opposed to the alternative which would have seen photographers covertly following her and potentially disrupting her plans.
Plus, considering just how high-profile Meghan's baby shower guest list was, the chances of the media finding out details and taking intrusive pictures of the event was significantly higher than normal.
A similar tactic was taken by Prince William and Kate Middleton back in 2016, when they went on a private skiing holiday with their two young children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, to the French Alps. The family was keen to avoid press intrusion, so organised for official photographer John Stillwell to take a small number of portraits of the family on holiday, which they later distributed to the media.
Publications were satisfied with the images, which meant the Cambridges weren't hounded on their holiday, and were able to enjoy it in private.
Of course, we don't know for certain that this is the reason Meghan has been photographed so widely in the latter half of her trip, but if it is, it definitely makes sense. And it's also a reminder of just how little privacy the royals really have.
Here's hoping Meghan at least got to enjoy a few days of her holiday in peace.
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