On Easter Sunday, the Duchess of Sussex posted an adorable video of a mother duck and her ducklings. In the sweet video, Meghan is seen off to the side, watching the mama duck waddle across the Sussexes’ driveway, with all of the little ducklings following. Meghan didn’t make any claims about when the video was filmed or anything, she just posted it with a “happy Easter” message and left it at that. Ever since she posted it, the British and Australian media has been crashing out. Like, they’ve invented two dozen “conspiracies” about ducks, I sh-t you not. For several days, this has been one of the top stories at the Daily Mail: “Internet conspiracy theorists accuse Meghan Markle of ‘staging’ her Easter duckling video after noticing key detail.” The key detail? The position of the camera!
Internet conspiracy theorists have accused Meghan Markle of ‘staging’ a sweet Easter video that shows her watching a flock of ducks crossing a road in Montecito. The Duchess of Sussex, 43, looked overjoyed on Easter Sunday when she was filmed reacting to the adorable mother duck and her seven ducklings waddling together as a pack by a woodland.
Meghan, who was dressed in an elegant white sleeveless midi frock for the occasion, observed the animal waiting for its young in the middle of the road as she watched in, visibly open-mouthed that she was able to experience a special moment on Easter, as hatched ducklings are symbolic of spring and new life – and, therefore, strongly associated with the holiday. She captioned the post, ‘An Easter weekend surprise’, and added the message, ‘Wishing you a Happy Easter full of love….and surprises!’
The short clip was posted on the mother-of-three’s Instagram account and has since racked up more than five million views.
But some viewers weren’t convinced that the Duchess came across the ducks by chance, with some claiming she had ‘set up’ the video after saying the camera is ‘set up in the centre of the shot’. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one person wrote: ‘You just know this was a set up. Poor ducks had to be filmed with Megs. She just happened to be there with a cameraman when the ducks crossed. Sure!!!’
Another penned: ‘Oh look the camera is set up to have Meghan right in the centre of the shot and the ducks are slightly off camera. She literally just got dolled up for that five seconds of just herself with some ducks’
A third said: ‘Oh I don’t believe her, it’s a scam, the ducks were brought in to record Markle’s ad.’
GB News, Sky News Australia and multiple other outlets ran similar versions of the “Meghan staged the duck video” story. My God. Have none of these people ever encountered ducks before? They’ve never seen a mother duck and her ducklings cross a street or a driveway? My guess is that Meghan and Harry (or someone else at the house) already saw the ducks somewhere on the Montecito property, so Harry took out his phone and they were already tracking the ducks to see where they would go next. I say Harry because we know he’s a bird-watcher and he seems like the one who would have been aware that some ducklings were on the property. Anyway, it’s funny that the duck video already has millions of views. The Princess of Wales’ “Scouts walkabout” video only has 63K views. Hahahaha.
Meghan watching mama duck and her ducklings walking around 😄🦆😄 pic.twitter.com/tVRPgtb4Yx
— Katerina 🇺🇦 (@Le__Katerina) April 20, 2025
This is footage I shot with my phone when I was going on a walk a few years ago.
So to all the people saying Meghan faked the duck video you need to understand you can stage many things but not the behaviour of animals in the wild.
Stop being so vile about an adorable video 🙌🏾 pic.twitter.com/B48ek093mc— Lorraine King (@lorrainemking) April 21, 2025
Photos courtesy of Instagram, Netflix.
Oh my god you can’t stage wild ducks . I have many pictures of ducks at the park that I walk at where a mother duck will come out of the weeds ahead of me to bring her ducks to the water. There is no end to the ridiculous crap they throw at Meg.
Ducks also return to their previous nest, we had a family that showed up every spring to have their babies under our dryer vent.. when they were big enough they always crossed the street to our neighbors and into the small river there.. every year it was always magical to see those little ducklings, if we had tried to go anywhere near those babies the momma and Papa ducks would have eaten us alive, they didn’t let us use the front door without an urgent care visit. So the staging narrative is just laughable.
And they are more outrage about this than all the vile, hateful racist staged videos and talk shows about Meghan
I like that comment. You can stage many things but not the behavior of animals in the wild. People are just simply unhinged about this woman👩
Yes, it’s well known ducklings are very intelligent and notorious for their ability to follow instructions from humans at a very early age.
These people are nuts.
Oh Duckgate. Lazy must be pleased.
People go bat poop crazy everyday that Meghan wakes up.
The world is headed to hell in a handbasket.
They need to find a worth-while cause for that energy.
There is apparently no floor to what a person can get a BEC reaction for doing. Add “enjoying the sight of a mama duck with ducklings” to the list.
It always warms my heart to see a BEC reference in the wild. Like, I wish the acronym didn’t have to exist because people *could* just choose to be kind and supportive, yet they don’t. But it’s just such an apt description it makes me cackle.
People that dissect a cute and harmless video of baby ducks looking for something sinister really need to get help.. this sounds like something Willy would start, I have a strong suspicion he is a one of the deranged haters online and the football forums are just a cover story.
Undoubtedly. It will only be a matter of time before they uncover him. Didn’t someone already uncover Knauf’s trolling identities? Wonder if Willie uses his accounts….
Oh for heaven’s sake, what is wrong with these people? Everyone has a phone with them, and how long does it take to grab it from your pocket or purse and take a video??? And cameras in phones are fantastic now, taking high-quality photos and videos. I have all kinds of odd happenings videoed on my phone because I just happen to be there and my phone was within reach.
Meghan’s happiness and success has really broken people’s brains.
What I came here to say. Her joy REALLY bothers some people. It’s pathetic and heartbreaking
Duckgate!!!
Folks are just so jealous and envious of this woman’s life. According to them everything has to be stage. Good grief.I live in a community with tons of houses and at certain times of the year, you come to a complete stop because ducks and ducklings are crossing the street in front of you and cars.
Even if she had staged it, so??? Like what is the complaint if she has staged the video? Staging videos is illegal? She harmed the birds, she killed them off camera afterwards? Like what is their complaint?
Also birds absolutely pop out of bushes and walk across in front of you in the spring right after they had their chicks. I’ve literally watched traffic stop on a major thoroughfare to let ducks cross from the grass to a wooded area.
These people are truly deranged. This isn’t even something to be bothered by other than the fact that you literally are upset that someone is happy. And that other people like a person that you don’t.
Where I live it’s Canadian Geese. I could literally walk out my door right now and encounter a whole family of them. They’re freaking EVERYWHERE. I’m sure it’s the same for Meghan and where she lives. No need to stage anything.
Who on earth could watch this video and have any reaction other than “ducks! cute” before going on with their day as normal?
Sky news is the Fox News equivalent in Australia. Completely unhinged racist psychopaths. Shameful, but not surprising from them.
People are stupid……. And its exhausting.
“Those ducks are AI! Some of them have only one leg like Price Louis!”
“Staged/AI videos are MINE, Meghan and Harold! Mine, mine, mine!”
“The short clip was posted on the mother-of-three’s Instagram account and has since racked up more than five million views.”
Is there an evil Bart in the attic?
See, I caught that too. The mention of 3 kids??????
Also, in the opening statement they call her by her maiden name. IMMEDIATELY, I knew it would be a hit piece.
Kate is the mother of three. Maybe they got confused with all that projection.
Projection for real. An actual Franken-photo called out by news agencies exists in the world.
Willy couldn’t be bothered to attend a once a year church service with his terminally ill father, children, and extended family (including his only paternal aunt who could have died from a head injury this year). To cover his lazy ass rather than own his ineptide, he has been knives out and planting rota nonsense about Meghan for the last week after actively attacking his brother for months. Icky. Icky. Icky man. His obsession with the Sussexes is CREEPY.
Meghan was seen breathing: choose 4: 1) clearly she is trying to undermine KCIII & place Harry on the throne, 2) trying to monetize her position, 3) heading for divorce court, 4) bullying anyone within a 2-mile radius.
Meghan is the moment, Meghan is the zeitgeist. Period!!! She’s the only person atm that blends royalty and celebrity (England and USA) with global visibility and appeal. 👍 It’s the reason the comparative engagement numbers between her and Kate that Kaiser highlighted are so vastly different.
I believe Meghan has come to terms with how the royalists will cover her. Ted S said it, people’s reaction to Meghan is otherworldly. I used to be flabbergasted and upset by every false and negative Meghan article, but now I view them as crazy ridiculous nonsense because they usually are. No one else gets dissected the way she does by the media. It’s incessant. It’s dehumanizing. There is a financial gain 💰 connected to the incessant ridiculous nonsensical coverage. Engagement sells….money money money 💵 💵 💵
I think Meghan has learned to lean on the circle of supporters she now has around her to shut out the noise and focus on building her life and her business.
The video was cute, Meghan definitely was doing some silent film star gestures to show how excited she was about it because this is so cute. I’ve seen the duck procession in the park and it’s really cute, traffic stops, it’s pretty special to see. Why it’s a big deal that Meghan filmed it, I don’t know. I guess both her and Harry like birds but whether they can direct them like some ringmaster is a bit much.
I would say Harry too and the kids were there. The way these psychos think there’s a ‘videographer’ following her is hilarious.
BTW someone was very snarky yesterday saying how can smart people believe this bs.. Well, honey bunny, easily. Smart people don’t necessarily spend time online.. But they see every single outlet of legacy news including guardian, BBC, the one only left wing au media who copy the UK, and every single other media outlet lying about her and emphasising this stuff. All well for miss sniff to say they’re not smart. They are. But they’re not online much because they have lives, they don’t follow gossip and even the trustworthy outlets post Meghan hate. That’s why!
From where Meghan is standing, it’s reasonable to assume that the family was out observing the ducks and Meg got into a position where she could watch them coming out of the foliage to cross the driveway with Harry ready to film it on his phone.
It’s a simple and charming video; some people are just crazy in their hate.
Whew. These people are jealous jealous jealous. I keep joking about how she was like a Disney princess surrounded by fluffy animals. And these people are so jealous of how adorable and sweet that moment was that they’re losing their jealous little minds.
It’s true — she’s a true princess by nature and in spirit, so much more so than their princesses by bloodline or marriage, and it’s breaking their brains.
On my walk this past Sunday in my urban neighborhood, a deer went galloping by, when I walked around the corner there was another deer hanging out by a neighbor’s front door and a few houses down a third deer grazing on the plants on someone’s front lawn. I guess if I filmed it and posted I would be accused of staging.
They are Zapruder-ing this charming little duck video!
They should read Robert McCloskey’s “Make Way for Ducklings.” Ducklings waddle after their moms all the time.
I mean these people are called derangers for a reason.
I live near a pond and it’s always a great day when the ducks wander over to hand out in our backyard. They’re fond of the lilac bushes. Once they decided the cross the street and my daughter stood in the middle to ensure no cars crossed during their journey. Then she had to rescue one duckling who couldn’t hop up the curb like the others. Luckily, Mama was fine with her assistance.
Charming video, and perfect for Easter. Where I live, it’s not at all unusual to see traffic stopped while a parade of Canada Geese cross a road. This usually happens in the fall and springl, when they are flying south for the winter, or when they’re coming back to their summer habitat. I recently stopped my car on two occasions to give the geese the right of way.
How could anyone’s reaction to this be anything other than a little squee of delight? How dare Meghan find joy in nature? Does she not know that joy in nature is only for white duchesses?
They’ll probably accuse her of hiring a duck wrangler to bring them to their property in cages and stage the whole thing.
Anyone else notice they refer to her as “mother of three?” Great reporting as always by the DM.
Oh my god. These people are so unserious. A duck crossed out path as we were walking through Saint James’s Park. In LONDON last summer.
There is a forest behind my parents’ house and we can get wild boar and deer on camera daily, I’m gonna start accusing my dad to be importing the wild animals just so that we can take pictures of them.
Wild animals love to hang out around houses because they know they can find food, they have a chicken coop, mama duck probably knows that she can get free food around there. The ducklings are so cute, I can’t get over it.
There was a “Harry & Meghan” reference in last week’s Elsbeth.
Let the haters chew on that. Batards, all of them.
If it weren’t so sad it would be funny. The duckspericies are insane.