No shade? Buckingham Palace “did not snub” Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s daughter, Princess Lilibet, on her 2nd birthday, a source confirms to Us Weekly.
When Lilibet turned 2 on Sunday, June 4, there was no official message from King Charles III and Queen Camilla shared via social media or a statement — nor was there a public birthday shout-out from Prince William and Princess Kate.
A source, meanwhile, tells Us that “the Palace did not snub Lilibet,” explaining: “There is no and has never been protocol for wishing happy birthdays to non working members of the royal family.” (For his part, Harry, 38, missed the first day of his phone hacking trial in the U.K. on Monday, June 5, to celebrate his daughter’s 2nd birthday at their home in California one day prior.)
Meghan Markle with Lilbet. Netflix
Last year, however, Queen Elizabeth II — who died in September 2022 at age 96 — paid tribute to her namesake in a sweet message shared on the royal family’s Twitter account. “🎈Wishing Lilibet a very Happy 1st Birthday!” the message read. One month prior, the family did the same with Sussexes’ son, Prince Archie. “Wishing Archie Mountbatten-Windsor a very happy 3rd Birthday!”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Buckingham Palace’s decision to not publicly wish Lilibet a happy birthday this year comes nearly one month after The Firm made the same choice regarding her brother’s 4th birthday, which fell on the same day as King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s coronation.
Charles did, however, make a private toast to his youngest grandson at the time, royal expert Nick Bullen exclusively told Us last month.
King Charles III, Queen Camilla, Prince William and Catherine Princess of Wales Paul Grover/WPA/Shutterstock
“I hear that the king made a toast to Archie ’cause it was his birthday, but even the way the king said that, [adding] ‘wherever he is,’ it was sad,” the editor-in-chief of True Royalty TV explained. “And I think that’s the sad piece is that these two grandchildren aren’t part of the story. I think that is sad for them, sad for the king, but the Sussexes have made their decision on that.”
Harry and Meghan, 41, stepped down from their positions as senior royals in 2020 and moved across the pond that same year. In the time since, the Sussexes have been vocal about their drama with the royals, whom they have accused of making racist remarks, not providing them with an adequate amount of mental health care and much more. In his tell-all memoir, Spare, Harry made multiple allegations against his father and brother — including claims that Charles, 74, planted negative stories about his sons in the press and that he and William, 40, got into a physical fight over Meghan.
Despite the drama, Harry flew to the U.K. to attend his father’s coronation in May. (Meghan, for her part, stayed at home in California with their children to celebrate Archie’s birthday.) While the former military pilot did not interact with his father or brother in public — Harry sat with cousins Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice during the ceremony at Westminster Abbey — Bullen told Us that the prince spoke with Charles before the celebration.
“My understanding is he didn’t have any interactions with the Prince or Princess of Wales but that he did have a conversation with his father the night before,” the royal expert told Us last month.
Prior to Charles’ coronation, an insider exclusively told Us that the monarch was “sad Meghan cannot attend but is thrilled [Prince] Harry will be in attendance.”
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