Prince Harry was left 'irritated' by his wife's decision to feature their children in her social media posts and brand promotions, with the couple holding 'opposite' views on how much exposure Archie and Lilibet should have, according to a new book.

Royal biographer Tom Bower makes the claim in Betrayal, alleging that Harry believed the children should be kept away from cameras while Meghan saw them as central to her public image.

"Worried about security, Harry insisted that their children should not be photographed. Meghan argued the opposite. The children, she believed, were important for her brand. She spoke of them living as normal Californian children," Bower alleges.

Insiders cited in Betrayal describe tensions running beneath the surface of the Sussex marriage over precisely this issue.

"Insiders spoke about tensions between them and arguments about their children," the book claims. "Harry was reportedly irritated that Meghan used their children to promote herself. He believed they should remain shielded from the media to avoid the exposure he had suffered as a child."

At the 2023 Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, Meghan stepped onto the stage on day three having made the journey without the children - telling the audience she had stayed behind in California a little longer than planned to get them settled. It was the kind of public reference to Archie and Lilibet that, according to the book, sat uneasily with Harry.

Bower also alleges that Meghan "demanded that in time, her little prince and princess should have the same exposure as William and Kate's children" - a striking demand given that the Wales children occupy a fundamentally different position - three of the most publicly visible youngsters in Britain by virtue of their place near the top of the line of succession.

For the Wales children, public life is inescapable, reports Woman and Home - and the spotlight will tighten further with every year that brings William closer to the crown. The Sussex children inhabit an entirely different world: California, relative anonymity, and parents who departed The Firm and its obligations behind them.

Whatever friction existed between the couple, their public approach to the children seems to have settled into something closer to Meghan's preferred position, states the report.

In recent months the Duchess's Instagram feed has carried footage from the As Ever brand shoot - the children cast as 'Mama's little helpers' - alongside a steady stream of family content. In every image, Archie and Lilibet's faces are kept just out of frame.

Bower suggests the disagreement may or may not have been resolved in private - noting that "eyewitnesses speculated that the tension between the couple was resolved, or perhaps not" in their hotel suite. The regularity of the children's appearances on Meghan's platforms suggests that whatever objections Harry once raised have either been overcome or set aside.

Woman's Own Royal Editor Emily Andrews offered her own assessment in a recent column, arguing that the children had been woven deliberately into the Sussex public brand.

"Their team would argue that carefully controlled images of their children are totally compatible with both Harry's campaigning (and wish for privacy) and Meghan's quest for sales," Andrews wrote. "I would say that's for the birds. Many celebrities rarely mention their children, let alone post pictures of them."

Andrews was direct about what she believed lay behind the strategy - describing the children as "part of Meghan's 'perfect family' brand."

Harry and Meghan's team has not stayed silent. Extracts from Betrayal had been circulating for several weeks before publication, drawing growing attention - and a sharp response from the couple's spokesperson, who dismissed Bower as having 'long crossed the line from criticism into fixation.'

"This is someone who has publicly stated, 'the monarchy in fact depends on actually obliterating the Sussexes from our state of life,' language that speaks for itself," the statement read. "He has made a career out of constructing ever more elaborate theories about people he does not know and has never met. Those interested in facts will look elsewhere; those seeking deranged conspiracy and melodrama know exactly where to find him."