Topics: Meghan Markle, Royal Family, UK News, US News, Celebrity, Prince Archie, Prince Harry
Family footage shared online by Meghan Markle earlier today rapidly became the subject of widespread AI accusations.
Thankfully for the Duchess of Sussex, however, fans were on hand to squash the speculation.
The controversy began just seven hours ago, when Meghan took to Instagram, sharing a sweet video of her six-year-old son, Prince Archie, skiing alongside his father.
In the clip, the youngster skis gently several metres behind Prince Harry, who slows down his own turns to wait for Archie to catch up.
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"My boys. Quick learner, Archie! So proud," Meghan, 44, captioned the post.
The pair seem to wear matching navy ski suits and helmets. While 41-year-old Harry skis using two poles, however, Archie is without any at all.
Unfortunately for the Sussexes, this aspect of Archie's adventure has resulted in his mother being accused of using AI to generate the viral video.
"No sticks, calling BS on this one. Could be anyone or AI," one Reddit user hit out.
Another agreed: "It doesn’t look real at all. S****y AI."
"Why does the kid look like AI?" questioned a third.
"My thoughts exactly as soon as I watched it and where are his ski poles?" a fourth went on.
As we say, however, a number of royal fans quickly rushed to Meghan's defence, pointing out that young children undertaking ski lessons often don't receive their poles until they've mastered basic balance.
"To be fair, when kids are learning to ski, they often don’t use poles initially," one user explained. "I agree it’s unlikely to have been doctored, but the lack of ski poles is explainable."
Another chimed in to defend Archie's lack of poles, adding: "My girls were skiing by 3 yo. They kept their arms down at their sides, but their centre of gravity was much lower than Archie's, who looks like he is still learning.
"So I can see why his arms would be spread out for balance. I'm sure when he starts using poles, he'll be flailing less."
According to experts at international ski goods retailer Intersport, it's 'much easier' to get little ones started in skiing 'without poles'.
"These can actually be more of a hindrance at first," the site continued.
Experts also listed better balance and posture, increased concentration on leg work, less risk of falling due to tangled poles and an ease in getting up after a tumble as some of the advantages of learning without them.
"Our tip: Let your kids decide when to try poles! They will often show interest on their own when they feel confident enough," they added.
