Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle are pictured.
Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle are pictured.

LONDON — Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, posted a short Instagram video on Sunday showing Prince Harry and their children in the English countryside, the first family footage she has shared since the Sussexes arrived from California in late August.

The clip, about 34 to 35 seconds long, is set to Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and carries a Union Jack and a heart emoji. It opens with Meghan, 45, and Harry, 41, walking hand in hand on a country path. She turns toward the camera and says, "Come on, you." Later scenes show Princess Lilibet, 5, riding a bicycle with training wheels and a doll on the back as Prince Archie, 7, runs beside her. Archie can be heard shouting "Go! Go!" in what several British outlets described as a distinctly English accent. Harry appears in a small boat fishing with the children. A black Labrador, identified in coverage as Pula, is visible near the water. Other shots include wellington boots in a puddle and a child's feet by a fireplace.

The family landed in Britain on Aug. 26 after six years based in Montecito, California. Archie and Lilibet have started the school year in the United Kingdom. The couple have kept their California house and a property in Portugal and have said they are not returning to paid working-royal roles. King Charles's office last week restated that they remain non-working members of the family. A spokesperson for the Sussexes said they were given little notice before that message went to the media.

Where the Sunday footage was shot has not been confirmed. Reports have placed Meghan in the Cotswolds earlier this month and said the couple have looked at houses in that part of Oxfordshire. Faces of the children are often partly hidden or filmed from behind, consistent with how Meghan has posted them before.

The video landed in an argument that has followed the family since they left senior royal duties in 2020. Royal commentator Kinsey Schofield told Fox News Digital the arrangement looks like an attempt to hold both countries. "I suspect they want the best of both worlds — access to Britain, proximity to the monarchy and the credibility that comes with Harry's royal identity, while maintaining the freedom and commercial opportunities they associate with life outside the U.K.," she said.

She compared that to the "half-in, half-out" model Queen Elizabeth II rejected. "Harry and Meghan never do what they say or say what they mean," Schofield said. "One year ago, Harry told us the U.K. was not safe enough to bring his wife and children. Now someone is briefing the Daily Mail that Harry has a 15-year plan in the U.K. Alternatively, we're briefed this could be temporary." "I would describe it as a trial run rather than a definitive homecoming," she added.

Broadcaster Helena Chard told Fox News Digital the couple are "keeping their options open." "Things haven't gone to plan for various reasons, but one thing's for sure: They need to keep relevant," she said. "Cue travel to the U.K., be seen with the British Royal Family and push for state-funded armed police protection." On security, she added: "Like a dog with a bone, Harry will fight for everything he believes his family deserves."

Those comments are opinion. A YouGov poll of 4,506 adults in Great Britain on Sept. 9 found 51% would rather the couple not return as working royals, 16% would prefer that they did and 33% did not know.

Harry is due at charity events in Britain this month, including work with WellChild and the Invictus community. Meghan continues As Ever, her lifestyle brand, from the United States. Neither has announced a sale of the Montecito house. People magazine, citing people close to the couple, has described the U.K. stay as an extended period with a private, non-royal address rather than a palace.

The contrast is the point of the clip. For six years the Sussexes argued that Britain was unsafe for their children and that the institution boxed them in. The first grid post after the return is rain boots, a bike with tassels, a father in a rowboat and a seven-year-old shouting "Go!" at deer. It does not resolve whether the family will winter in California or enroll the children through GCSEs. It does show what they chose to publish: countryside, not a statement, and children whose faces are still mostly turned away from the lens.

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