Royal Family snub Meghan Markle's birthday as Duchess of Sussex celebrates with Archie and Lilibet

When King Charles succeeded to the throne, the Royal Family ceased posting birthday messages for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on social media.

Royal aides said they only marked the birthdays of working royals on their social media accounts.

However, Meghan and Harry stepped back as working royals in 2020 and moved to the US that year, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

William and Kate shared a message with their millions of followers on social media two years after they left, publicly wishing Prince Harry's wife a happy birthday when she turned 41.

On August 4, 2022, William and Kate sent a message to Meghan on X (formerly Twitter) from their official account, saying: "Wishing a happy birthday to the Duchess of Sussex!"

Their message also featured a photograph of Meghan in a white outfit and hat taken during her visit to the UK a few months earlier for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Wishing a happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex! pic.twitter.com/HrYdCbe6N1

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) August 4, 2022

Charles, then the Prince of Wales, and Camilla, then the Duchess of Cornwall, also sent a message marking Meghan's 41st, writing: "Happy Birthday to The Duchess of Sussex!" with a red balloon emoji.

Although it has not been officially confirmed that Meghan celebrated in private, People Magazine reported that the duchess held a low-key celebration with her family for her 43rd birthday.

This coincided with the release of her highly anticipated interview with CBS coinciding with the special occasion.

Since their departure from The Firm, Harry and Meghan gave an explosive interview to Oprah about their experiences of being royals in 2021.

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During the interview, the couple laid bare the extent of their rift with the royals.

They then signed a deal with Netflix and released their docuseries named Harry & Meghan in December 2022.

This was before the duke released his controversial tell-all autobiography Spare, published in January last year.