Prince William and Kate Middleton publicly wished Prince Harry a happy 40th birthday for the first time since 2021, following his and Meghan Markle’s controversial interview.
This comes after a period of silence from the Royal Family regarding birthdays, raising mixed reactions among fans.
After a three-year gap, the Royal Family publicly extended birthday wishes to Prince Harry.
Prince William and Kate Middleton shared a message on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
The Prince and Princess of Wales wished Harry on his 40th birthday while sharing a wish by the Royal Family.
William and Kate added their note to wish the Duke of Sussex: “Wishing a Happy 40th Birthday to The Duke of Sussex!”.
This is the first time since Harry and Meghan’s controversial interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that the Royals have openly acknowledged his birthday.
On August 4, Meghan Markle celebrated her 43rd birthday.
Interestingly, Harry’s wife did not receive any public wish from any members of the Royal Family at that time.
It was the second consecutive year that Meghan did not receive any wishes from her in-laws.
Since Queen Elizabeth II passed away and King Charles III became monarch, the Royal Family has stopped publicly acknowledging Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s birthdays.
Before this change, even after the couple left their Royal duties in 2020 and moved to California, they continued to receive birthday wishes from the family.
In 2022, for example, William and Kate used social media to wish Meghan a happy 41st birthday, but such public messages have not occurred since.
Many Royal Family fans were left unimpressed by the birthday wish. Let’s take a look at some of the comments.
“Sad that you felt pressured into doing this. Especially after accusing William of being a violent bully and Catherine a b*tch in Spare.”
“This is wrong on every level. Sorry, but it is.”
“He disrespected the late Queen. There is no way back from that.”
“You could have done it personally. Try to read the room; it creates a division of precisely what the Sussex has done now for years.”
Some of them, however, appreciated the gesture.
“Thank you for being the adults in the room. As Prince Harry continues his attacks this will make him look even worse.”
“Now this is extremely surprising. Fair play William… fair play”
Some of them pointed out that the Royal Family cropped Meghan out of the actual photograph while wishing Harry.
