The Real Reason Why The Queen Didn't Publicly Greet Meghan on Her 41st Birthday

The official social media accounts of The Royal Family regularly posted birthday greetings of the family members accompanied by short but heartfelt birthday messages. The Royal Family represents The Queen, Clarence House represents The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Kensington Royal represents The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

These social media accounts provide updates on activities and anything related to the senior members of the Royal Family. Apart from birthday greetings, they will also post greetings for the wedding anniversary of the senior royal couples.

The social media profiles of the three royal households have traditionally only ever publicly marked the birthdays of senior members of The Royal Family.

Meghan joined The Queen for a public engagement in 2018

But they made an exception for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who stepped back from their senior royal roles in 2020, and their children. 

The Queen has emphasized in her public message in 2020 that despite their decision to leave the Firm, Harry and Meghan remained valuable members of the Royal Family.

In May, the three social media accounts wished Archie Mountbatten-Windsor a happy birthday using official pictures taken when he was only a few days and months old.

Lili Mountbatten-Windsor turned one this year

On June 4, the three royal households' Twitter accounts also published their birthday wishes for Archie's younger sister, Lili, as she marked her first birthday in Windsor.

Noticeably, they did so without adding any photograph, as no official picture of Lili with members of the Firm has ever been made public.

However, royal fans have wondered why The Queen's social media account - The Royal Family - did not publicly greet the Duchess of Sussex on her 41st birthday on August 4, 2022.

Meghan Markle

Since becoming a member of the British royal family, Meghan's birthday is annually honored by The Queen through The Royal Family's Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter official pages.

This year, only the social media accounts of Prince Charles and Prince William greeted Meghan Markle with a simple message "Happy 41st birthday to the Duchess of Sussex".

It was not a grid post but a post in the "story" section on instagram which can be viewed only within 24 hours. But on Twitter, the two royal households' accounts made a permanent post on her birthday.

Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined cousins, Peter and Zara

Since they stepped back from their senior royal roles in 2020, the relationships between The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and some members of the British royal family have been tense. 

The so-called silent "feud" has been tabloid fodder for the past two years. Claims of tension, estrangement, and drama reached fever pitch when the Sussexes sat for a tell-all interview with Oprah in 2021 while Prince Philip was still confined in the hospital.

So, the birthday of the Duchess of Sussex this year was like a "party watch" for some royal fans and the media on which social media accounts of the British royals will post a greeting and which will not. 

For Meghan's 41st birthday, it was a defining moment of her real place in The Royal Family. And the social media accounts of the three royal households made sure the public will know it.

Duke and Duchess of Sussex

The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Duke, and Duchess of Cambridge shared a "story" celebrating Meghan's birthday on their social media accounts in a rather low-key manner. 

However, the social media profiles, The Royal Family, representing The Queen remained silent and did not post anything about the Duchess of Sussex's birthday.

The Royal Family has only one public post on that day (August 4) and it was all about Princess Anne's public engagement in Edinburgh. 

The Princess Royal has been dubbed by the media as the hardest working royal member due to the number of public engagements she regularly undertook each year, which often surpassed the activities of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The tweet included three pictures taken during Princess Anne's meeting with cadets at the Redford Barracks ahead of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, of which she is the patron.

The post read: "One day to go! The Princess Royal was in Edinburgh this morning where she enjoyed a sneak peek of the @edinburghtattoo rehearsals ahead of their opening night tomorrow".

While the media described The Queen's social media account's failure to publicly greet Meghan as "notable silence", royal correspondent, Richard Palmer, stressed the lack of public messages was not meant to be a snub from the monarch.

Looking into the real reason behind this silence, Mr. Palmer spoke of a new social media practice Buckingham Palace may be adopting when it comes to marking the birthdays of non-working royals.

The expert wrote in the Daily Express: "It is thought that the Queen congratulated Meghan privately but her official website neglected to mention her birthday after deciding it will only mark the birthdays of non-working members of the family when they end in a zero."

Members of The Royal Family attend the Commonwealth Service in March 2020

Meghan and Harry are thought to have remained close to Her Majesty despite their split from the Royal Family.

During their interview with Oprah Winfrey aired in 2021, the Duke and Duchess stressed how they have kept in touch with the monarch after moving to California.

The Queen's notable silence

So what's the reason behind the "silence" of The Queen's social media profiles on Meghan's 41st birthday?

Of course, Queen Elizabeth II did not personally handle her social media accounts, a team of social media managers handled and maintained them, but Her Majesty is always informed of what information and messages the accounts are sharing with the public.

Meghan Markle in pantsuits. Getty Images

Royal experts revealed that the social media profiles representing The Queen only acknowledged birthdays and wedding anniversaries of the working members of the Royal Family, and the direct family of the Prince of Wales' heir, Prince William.

It means business for Her Majesty from now on.

Even The Queen's granddaughter, Princess Beatrice, who turned 34 today. did not get a public birthday greeting from her granny, not even a "my story" post. 

Hopefully, royal fans will settle this issue and not put another layer of intrigue on The Royal Family's notable silence on Meghan's 41st birthday.

Belated happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex! 🎂