Meghan Markle has suffered a fresh blow from the Royal Family, as the monarchy broke their silence with Prince Harry by wishing him a happy birthday.
The Duke of Sussex, who turned 40-years-old on Sunday, received a social media post from the royals to mark his milestone birthday, the first public post for the Prince in two years.
However, the choice of image has sparked a frenzy after it was seemingly cropped to cut Meghan Markle from the picture.
The original photo, taken during the Duke and Duchess's visit to Dublin in 2018, features Meghan sitting next to Harry.
Prince Harry was wished a happy birthday by the Royal Family with an image cropped around Meghan Markle
Getty / PA
Discussing the post, commentator Dawn Neesom highlighted apparent snub of the Duchess and said the message to Prince Harry "lacked any personal touch".
Neesom told GB News: "It's a lovely, smiling picture of Prince Harry, but the person that's been cropped out of it is his wife, Meghan.
"She's sitting next to him - I don't know who cropped Meghan out of the picture, it might have been the original photographer, but she was in the original."
Offering his defence of the Royal Family's choice of image, host Ben Leo argued that it is "not Meghan's birthday", and the post should be solely about the Duke.
The image has been cropped from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle outing to Dublin on July 11, 2018
Getty
Turning the discussion to the wording of the post, Neesom claimed that it appears to be "posted by someone running the social media account", as it has no personal sign off from a member of the Royal Family.
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Neesom explained: "This is the first time in two years that the royal social media accounts have wished Harry a happy birthday. And it is his 40th birthday, so it's a special birthday.
"I think they were damned if they did and damned if they didn't, but I think the wording and the lack of any personal touch whatsoever makes it very much appear that it's come from someone just operating the social media account, because they've got to do it. I don't think William probably knew anything about it."
Weighing in on Neesom's remarks, host Isabel Webster argued that the post would most likely needed to be "signed off" by Prince William or King Charles, before being shared on social media.
Isabel added: "I'm sure he's [William] given the okay for it, because he certainly would stop it if he wasn't happy."
Neesom said the social media post 'lacked any personal touch' towards the Prince
GB News
Offering an optimistic view on the social media post, Kriss Akabusi said the move by the Royal Family shows Prince William is "thinking about his brother" on his milestone birthday.
Akabusi told GB News: "It seems that the Prince of Wales has been thinking about his brother. It's a small gesture, but it's to the point.
"If you use the analogy of winter and a slight thawing in their relations, there might be green shoots down the road, but there's still a long way to go."
Akabusi added: "We don't know what goes on in private, but maybe somewhere the boys do realise, you know what, there's the old man here, the King to think about."
