Prince Harry turned 40 on Sunday far from the family he’s estranged from, but the royals did reach out with birthday greetings amid their ongoing rift.
“Wishing The Duke of Sussex a very happy 40th birthday today!” the official Royal Family’s social media accounts posted, complete with birthday cake emoji, alongside a photo of a smiling Prince Harry.
It was the first public birthday message Harry has received from the royal family’s official account since 2021. The Royal Family accounts are run by King Charles’s office at Buckingham Palace.
His brother and sister-in-law, Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton, echoed the message by sharing the royal family’s post on X with the words, “Wishing a Happy 40th Birthday to The Duke of Sussex!” from the official account of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Wishing a Happy 40th Birthday to The Duke of Sussex! https://t.co/ZKJbYDmV6L
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) September 15, 2024
Some royal watchers saw the messages as an olive branc, according to People. Birthdays are usually only acknowledged publicly for working royals. Harry and wife Meghan Markle stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and relocated to the U.S., where they are raising their three children in California.
Harry celebrated privately in Montecito with friends and family, People reported, and with plans to continue partying abroad with close friends.
The couple has since been very vocal about the treatment they felt subject to as senior working royals, airing their concerns in a candid interview with Oprah Winfrey. Harry also wrote in detail about his relationships and family in his memoir, “Spare,” revealing more internal family workings and salacious details.
Now he may be turning his attention from the past to the future.
“He is at a sort of crossroads,’’ royal watcher and author Sally Bedell Smith told The Associated Press. “And he appears to be struggling with how he wants to proceed.’’
He was upbeat approaching the big birthday, according to BBC News.
“Whatever the age, my mission is to continue showing up and doing good in the world,” he told BBC News.
With News Wire Services