The Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge led royal well-wishes to the Duchess of Sussex as she celebrates her 39th birthday in Los Angeles.
The official Royal Family Instagram account this morning posted a photograph of the Queen, 94, and Meghan Markle on their first joint royal engagement alongside the warm message: ‘Wishing The Duchess of Sussex a very happy birthday!’
It was followed shortly afterwards by a post by Kate and William’s Kensington Palace account. The couple chose a solo image of Meghan speaking to a young schoolgirl with the post: ‘Wishing a very happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex today!’
The messages are thought to be a show of support for Meghan amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the release of the Sussexes’ biography, Finding Freedom, which claims to lay bare a rift between the couple and the rest of the Royal Family.
The Queen did not post on Meghan’s birthday last year, suggesting specific effort has been made to present a united front amid claims the biography has displeased Her Majesty.
Scroll down for video
The Queen, 94, wished Meghan Markle a happy 39th birthday in a public show of support amid ongoing controversy surrounding the release of the Sussexes’ biography Finding Freedom
It was followed shortly afterwards by a post by Kate and William’s Kensington Palace account.
Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan moved to the US with their 14-month-old son Archie just a few weeks before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the globe, and like everyone else have been living under lockdown.
The family are living in a stunning mansion owned by filmmaker Tyler Perry.
Birthday celebrations are likely to be low-key as the state of California they now call home reportedly has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the US.
It remains to be seen whether other senior royals will share birthday posts to Meghan but it is likely they will follow Her Majesty’s lead.
Despite not being able to make any appearances in person, Harry and Meghan have used their time in lockdown to deliver a number of virtual addresses on causes close to their hearts, including sustainable tourism and race relations in the US.
A year ago Meghan Markle was a working member of the British royal family and living in the grounds of Windsor Castle with husband Harry and their son Archie. The couple stepped down from royal duties in March. Pictured, at one of their final engagements that month in London
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement Meghan, who became the first bi-racial person to marry a senior royal, delivered an impassioned speech to her old high school following the death of Mr Floyd, sharing her ‘absolute devastation’ at racial divisions.
The issue of racial equality is expected to be a cause that forms part of their public work when the couple formally launch their new charitable organisation, Archewell, which has replaced their UK based Royal Sussex foundation which has been wound down.
The couple have been working behind the scenes to urge top executives across the world to stand in solidarity with groups calling for a Facebook boycott.
The duke and duchess have spoken with a number of organisations leading the Stop Hate For Profit campaign, which is calling on businesses to pause advertising on the platform over the social network’s failure to do more to remove hate speech.
A source has said: ‘As we’ve been developing Archewell, one of the areas the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been keen to address is online hate speech, and we’ve been working with civil rights and racial justice groups on it.’
The Duchess of Sussex is celebrating her 39th birthday after a whirlwind 12 months that has seen her life transformed. Pictured, Harry and Meghan speaking from their Los Angeles home
From March 31, Harry and Meghan stopped using their HRH styles and ceased to be senior working royals.
The couple’s new life in Los Angeles comes at a cost but it is not known how they will pay for their lifestyle although there has been speculation about book deals and lecture circuit contracts the couple may have signed.
In recent weeks the focus of media attention has been on the release of Finding Freedom, the biography penned by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durant.
Scobie and Duran they have spoken to more than 100 sources including ‘close friends of Harry and Meghan’s, royal aides and palace staff (past and present)’, with all the information in the book having ‘at least two sources.’
The Duke and Duchess deny giving any interviews or contributing to the book directly, but the intimate nature of some details raises questions over who the sources were.
The explosive biography has claimed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ‘hurt’ the Queen by unilaterally mapping out their future royal roles without her approval.
Her Majesty is said to have been ‘blindsided’ by the launch of the SussexRoyal website which accompanied their Megxit announcement in January.
There are also fears the book’s publication could spark a fresh rift within the royal family.