Meghan Sent Public Birthday Wishes by William, Kate but is Snubbed by Queen

Meghan Markle received birthday wishes on social media from Prince William and Kate Middleton on Thursday but appeared to be snubbed by Queen Elizabeth II.

The duchess celebrated her 41st birthday on August 4, a date of birth she shares with former President Barack Obama and another royal—Prince Harry's great-grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Each year since her marriage, official royal social media accounts have wished Meghan a happy birthday in an established tradition that covers main senior members of the royal family. The posts continued through 2020 and 2021, even after Meghan stepped down as a senior working royal and the broadcast of her contentious interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

A post dedicated to the duchess from the official Instagram and Twitter accounts of William and Kate drew particular comment on Thursday as relations between the Sussexes and Cambridges are reported to be strained.

This was highlighted in the publication of a new bombshell biography titled Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors by Tom Bower that claims Meghan made Kate cry at a bridesmaids fitting in 2018 and that she "hated" being compared to her sister-in-law.

The Cambridges posted an image of Meghan taken during her first public visit to Britain since 2020, which showed her at the Platinum Jubilee national service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral in June. It read:

"Wishing a happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex!"

The Sussexes Platinum Jubilee visit was the first time that Meghan and Harry had attended an official royal event together since stepping down as working royals. It was also significant for being the first occasion they took their daughter Lilibet to the U.K. and introduced her to her British relations.

Royal watchers had hoped to see the Sussexes and Cambridges interact in public during the visit, however, this did not occur with the couples arriving, sitting and departing separately during the thanksgiving service.

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall also dedicated a birthday social media post to Meghan, uploading a photo of the duchess dressed in a Christian Dior Haute Couture outfit for the jubilee service.

Their post read: "Happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex! [balloon emoji]"

Since the broadcast of the Sussexes interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which Harry said his father stopped taking his calls for a while during their turbulent exit from royal life, the relationship between the couple and Charles and Camilla has become the focus of speculation.

With Harry's memoir due for release before the end of the year, commentators have questioned to what extent he will discuss his relationship with Charles. Others have said that Camilla may face the most critical write-up following her role in the break-up of Princess Diana's marriage in the 1990s.

The most senior royal social media channel, which acts for the Queen and reports on events within the wider royal family, notably did not post birthday wishes to Meghan on Thursday, despite having done so for her two children Archie, 3, in March and Lilibet, 1, in June.

This is the first year that the @royalfamily Twitter and Instagram accounts did not mark the duchess' birthday since her marriage in 2018, though is not to suggest that the queen did not send a personal private message.

Newsweek approached Buckingham Palace for comment.

The perceived snub comes in the same week that the monarch notably left Harry out of a message in which she said that William and Charles were carrying on the late Prince Philip's pioneering environmental work.

The omission of Harry was highlighted as it followed his impassioned speech at the United Nations on July 18 marking Nelson Mandela International Day. He said climate change was "wreaking havoc" on the planet and called for world leaders to act to "save humanity."

The queen is currently in Scotland where she traditionally spends periods of the summer months at her Balmoral Estate.