A fresh wave of online mockery has erupted after a humiliating still from Meghan Markle’s much-criticized Netflix documentary resurfaced, capturing the Duchess of Sussex sliding helplessly down a dusty hillside on her backside during what was supposed to be a casual hike with Prince Harry.
In the image, Markle is shown slumped on a dirt slope in California scrubland, sunglasses on, green jacket open, leggings and clogs visible, one hand braced in the dirt as she appears to have abandoned any attempt at normal footing. Social media users have gleefully dubbed the moment “sliking” – slide-hiking – and the caption spreading alongside the photo leaves little room for dignity.
The footage originally appeared in the Sussexes’ 2022 Netflix series Harry & Meghan. Viewers watch Markle lower herself onto her bottom and scoot downward, hands supporting her weight, while Harry’s voice is heard dryly observing: “She’s happy to go up the hill, but hates going down the hill.” Markle replies that they “don’t have that much further to go.” The scene was presented as light-hearted and “authentic.” Critics have always called it something else: a revealing portrait of entitlement and physical fragility dressed up as relatability.
The latest recirculation comes just weeks after Princess Catherine completed the grueling National Three Peaks Challenge – 23 miles across Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in under 24 hours – raising money for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. The Princess of Wales, still recovering from cancer treatment, finished the feat to public applause and was met at the end by her husband and children. The contrast could not be starker. One royal is summiting Britain’s highest peaks for a cancer charity. The other is captured sliding down a modest California trail on her rear end for a multi-million-dollar streaming deal.
Royal watchers and ordinary observers have not been kind. Comments have poured in pointing out the obvious: a woman who spent years portraying herself as a victim of the “oppressive” monarchy and the British press somehow managed to turn a simple downhill walk into a spectacle of helplessness. “Thank goodness she never attempted the Three Peaks with Catherine – she’d still be there,” one widely shared remark noted. Others called the original decision to include the clip in the Netflix series a classic Markle move: packaging weakness as charm while expecting applause.
This is hardly an isolated episode. Since Meghan Markle and Prince Harry walked away from their royal roles in 2020, the couple have specialized in monetizing grievance. They signed lucrative deals with Netflix and Spotify, produced a documentary that leveled serious accusations against the Royal Family, and have continued to trade on titles and connections they publicly claimed to reject. Experts have repeatedly accused them of operating a “half-in, half-out” existence – private citizens when convenient, royalty when it sells. Their American chapter has been marked by fading commercial relevance, public skepticism, and a steady drip of stories about strained family relations and failed attempts to remain the center of attention.
Harry’s own role in the hiking clip is telling. Rather than offering a steadying hand or simply choosing a more suitable path, he films and narrates his wife’s struggle for the cameras. The same man who has written and spoken at length about mental health, trauma, and the supposed coldness of his family appears perfectly content to broadcast his wife’s physical awkwardness as content. Critics argue this fits a broader pattern: Harry has allowed his marriage and public image to be defined by endless complaint, while Markle has cultivated an image of perpetual victimhood that sits uneasily beside multimillion-dollar contracts and carefully staged “authenticity.”
The “sliking” photo is not new, but its renewed circulation is. It serves as a concise visual summary of the Sussex brand: performative vulnerability, selective strength, and an unerring ability to look ridiculous when the cameras are rolling. While Princess Catherine climbs actual mountains, Meghan Markle slides down the small ones – and then wonders why the public is still laughing.
