King Charles and Prince William both wish Harry a happy 40th birthday – but use photo in which Meghan is cropped out as royal sources say they are following ‘tradition’ with their public good wishes

The King and the Prince and Princess of Wales yesterday publicly wished Prince Harry a happy 40th birthday, in what some might see as a carefully coordinated peace offer.

Both Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace posted messages on their social media channels within hours of each other as the Duke of Sussex prepared for the celebration in California.

It was the first time in three years that the royal family acknowledged his birthday on X and Instagram – as they do for all working royals – and two years since they last mentioned him in any capacity.

In private, it was emphasized that this was simply in line with the ‘tradition’ of sharing good wishes with the public on ‘important’ birthdays, even for non-working members of the royal family.

Both Meghan and Andrew, the Duke of York, have celebrated their significant birthdays this way in recent years – her 40th and his 60th – despite their respective troubles with the royal family.

Funnily enough, the photo Harry chose – taken when he was a working royal in 2018 – was taken during a visit to a start-up in Dublin with Meghan sitting next to him. But she was cropped out, apparently by the original photographer at the time.

The birthday messages come hot on the heels of Harry’s decision not to include a new chapter about his estrangement from his family in the forthcoming paperback edition of his memoirs, Spare. As revealed by the Mail, this came as a surprise, but a welcome one, to Buckingham Palace.

Officials have also tried to avoid discussions about the Sussexes in recent times, in an attempt to create “space” around the king and his estranged son to see if anything can be salvaged from their troubled relationship.

Although Charles is angry and determined not to respond to Harry’s crude accusations, he will never completely close the door on his youngest son.

But he wants to make sure there is no more criticism from across the Atlantic and that if Team Sussex does speak, it will not immediately leak it.

There was no comment from Buckingham Palace last night on whether the king had spoken to his son personally, which is being described as a “private matter.” Harry is expected to travel to the UK in the coming weeks to attend the Wellchild Awards, one of the few charities he is still associated with here.

As the King currently lives in Scotland but returns to London regularly for his cancer treatment, this could be an opportunity for father and son to meet in private.

The last time they saw each other was in February, when the King’s diagnosis was announced and Harry insisted on flying over from the US to see him. They were together for barely half an hour and it is believed they have not spoken since.

When Harry returned in May, the king was apparently too busy to meet him. But sources close to the Sussexes have made it clear that the prince is keen to find a way to reconcile with his father and return to the UK more often, although they claim he has no interest in returning to royal duties.

However, they acknowledge that the situation with his brother, Prince William, is much more complex. It is believed the couple have not spoken for two years due to Harry’s repeated attacks on his brother and even his sister-in-law, Catherine.

The first step was taken yesterday by Buckingham Palace, which posted a photo of a smiling Harry, taken during the trip to Ireland after his wedding in 2018, with the caption: “Wishing The Duke of Sussex a very happy 40th birthday today!”, accompanied by a birthday cake emoji.

Two hours later, this was reposted by Kensington Palace with a similar message. Again, the explanation was given that it was an ‘important’ anniversary. But it is likely that both would have felt the need to ‘sing from the same hymn sheet’, given the assumption it would inevitably create if a household chose not to.

To understand why a simple birthday message is so meaningful, it is important to emphasize that Buckingham Palace found itself in a difficult position after Harry and Meghan left the United Kingdom and their royal duties in 2020.

Worrying about whether to just wish someone a happy birthday seems ridiculous, but in terms of royal communication, these things matter. Millions of people pour over their social media posts, and many rune readings come out of each message.

A major problem was that they had no family photos of the Sussexes and the couple kept a tight rein on them.

Only one photo of the Sussexes’ baby boy Archie, born in May 2019, had ever been made public by the palace, so they were able to continue using that photo in their posts.

This photo was taken at the official birth photocall at Windsor Castle, two days after he was born. As one official said at the time: ‘We can’t keep using a photo of him when he’s two days old and you can’t even see his face. And no one dares ask them for another one.’

As a result, it was decided to stop sending annual birthday greetings to Harry, Meghan and their family, under the guise of a ‘convention’ that such messages only applied to working royals.

The team knew they would get some flack for this, but the feeling was that after a flood of headlines in the first year, people would get used to the ‘new normal’. As one insider said at the time, ‘We just have to get this over with.’

According to reports, Harry planned to celebrate his birthday with family and friends at home in Montecito, then go out with friends for a few days.

Meanwhile, King and Queen Camilla attended a church service in Scotland yesterday, driving to Crathie Kirk on the edge of the Balmoral estate.