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Members of the royal family have shared their Happy Birthday messages with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s daughter Lilibet amid the Jubilee celebrations.
The youngster will celebrate her first third birthday today far away from her $14 million home in Montecito – and instead is believed to be spending the day privately with her parents the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and elder brother Archie, at their UK base of Frogmore Cottage.
To mark the occasion, the Queen, Prince Charles and Camilla, Kate Middleton and Prince William shared their greetings on social media at the exact same time.
But with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle fiercely protective of their daughters privacy, previously sharing just one photograph of the little girl over the last 12 months, the royals were unable to post a snap of Lilibet.
It comes after The Queen reportedly met her great-granddaughter Lilibet for the first time after Prince Harry and Meghan had lunch with the monarch and senior royals behind closed doors as part of Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Meanwhile royal fans have been desperate to catch a glimpse of three-year-old Archie and Lilibet. Many have bemoaned the absence of Archie and Lilibet from the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Yesterday, the Duchess’ hairdresser and close friend has revealed how the Duke and Duchess’ son Archie is the ‘cutest, well mannered boy’ while Lilibet is ‘beautiful’.
Members of the royal family have shared their Happy Birthday messages with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s daughter Lilibet amid the Jubilee celebrations
To mark the occasion, the Queen, Prince Charles and Camilla, shared their greetings on social media at the exact same time (pictured)
But with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle fiercely protective of their daughters privacy, previously sharing just one photograph of the little girl over the last 12 months, both Prince Charles and the Queen were unable to post a snap of Lilibet
While the official Twitter account for the Queen posted: ‘Wishing Lilibet a very Happy 1st Birthday!’, the account for Prince Charles shared an almost identical message.
The words posted on the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s social media read: ‘Wishing Lilibet a very happy 1st birthday today’ along with a cake emoji.
It is believed that Harry and Meghan took their children to Windsor Castle to see their great-grandmother soon after they arrived in the UK, given the Queen’s current mobility problems — although this has not yet been officially confirmed.
Lilibet is today celebrating her first birthday in the UK and it is anticipated that the Queen will make time to see her grandson and his children again, given that she has cancelled her trip to the Epsom Derby and will not be attending tonight’s Party at the Palace.
It comes after The Queen reportedly met her great-granddaughter Lilibet for the first time after Prince Harry and Meghan had lunch with the monarch and senior royals behind closed doors as part of Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
It is not yet known whether the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have met Lilibet in person during the Jubilee celebrations
It is also very likely that Prince Charles will get to meet his grandchildren too. It is understood that he and Camilla met Harry and Meghan privately.
It comes after George Northwood, who recently jetted out to the Netherlands to do Meghan’s beauty while she attended the Invictus Games with husband, shared a post on Instagram with several images of the Duchess yesterday.
In a gushing caption, he posted: ‘So nostalgic and wonderful to be reunited Harry, Meghan and their family in the UK. Archie has grown to be the cutest, well mannered little boy and Lilibet is just beautiful.’
The royal couple have shared very few photographs of Archie, while they have only released one image of Lili – a Christmas card which the Duke and Duchess shared on their Archewell website in December.
Archie has rarely been seen since the couple stepped back as senior royals in March last year, with the couple releasing a few sparing pictures of him showing him with his back to the camera.
During the Oprah Winfrey interview and Prince Harry’s mental health documentary, he made an appearance but royal fans were only be able to get a glimpse of the youngster’s face.
It also marked the first time royal fans have been able to see Lilibet’s face. Meghan is thought to have revealed a grainy first photograph of her second child after a framed picture of Prince Harry kissing a newborn baby took pride of place on her desk in a video for her 40th birthday.
Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s second child, was born on June 4 in Santa Barbara, California, at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, and is eighth in line to the throne.
She was named after the Queen’s childhood nickname, while her middle name Diana was in tribute to Harry’s late mother. The baby weighed 7lbs 11oz.
No photographs of Lilibet were released following her birth, unlike her brother Archie, who had a photocall at Windsor Castle in 2019.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at St Paul’s Cathedral (left) and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Guildhall (right)
Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex attend the Service of Thanksgiving for The Queen’s reign at St Paul’s Cathedral
Prince Harry and Meghan arrive to attend a Service of Thanksgiving for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II this morning
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave St Paul’s Cathedral after the Service of Thanksgiving for the Platinum Jubilee toda
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are said to have introduced their little girl to the Queen – nicknamed Lilibet as a child – yesterday at Windsor after attending a private Royal Family lunch at Buckingham Palace following Trooping the Colour.
News of the Queen’s alleged meeting with Lilibet yesterday – which comes ahead of her first birthday tomorrow – was revealed on BBC Breakfast by royal commentator Omid Scobie, who is friendly with the Sussexes.
He said: ‘I think people are expecting some sort of big birthday extravagant event, that we’re going to see photographs from. From what I’m told, we shouldn’t expect anything. Those moments with Lilibet are very much private between them and the Queen and of course we know how much she’s been looking forward to it.
‘They’ve been held back by a pandemic. Of course the times that Harry has been here it’s just been by himself for quite sombre occasions.
‘And so this really was the first time. Of course we know the Queen went back to Windsor Castle yesterday, the couple went back to Windsor as well where they’re staying at Frogmore Cottage. So that would have been the first moment or the first chance for her to meet her namesake.’
Harry and Meghan are expected to remain mostly low-profile over the four-day Jubilee weekend, with no sign of the Netflix cameras that followed them around at the Invictus Games in the Netherlands in April.
The couple returned to their Windsor home of Frogmore Cottage this afternoon, leaving the rest of the Royal Family to attend a reception without them following the Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen.
The Duke was seen smiling next to his wife while being driven in a Range Rover with another car carrying security personnel behind, after what was the couple’s first joint royal engagement in two years.
They had been at St Paul’s Cathedral for the service, but were kept apart from Prince William, Kate, Prince Charles and Camilla after royal aides ensured they sat on the other side of the aisle – and they later left separately.
The Sussexes did not attend a reception straight after at the nearby Guildhall which featured a series of other Royal Family members and politicians including Prime Minster Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Buckingham Palace officials took great care to try to avoid a repeat of the frosty scenes when the Sussexes and Cambridges sat near each other and left together at their last joint event in March 2020 at Westminster Abbey.
And aides would have been delighted that the service in front of 2,000 guests passed without any such incident or negative ‘optics’ given the attempts to ensure the day was about the Queen and her 70-year reign.
Kate and William chatted to Prince Charles and Camilla inside the cathedral, but there was no sign of the same rapport with Harry and Meghan who sat in between Lady Sarah Chatto and Princess Eugenie’s husband Jack Brooksbank, and were under strict instructions to keep a low profile during the event.
Harry and William have had a long-standing feud, while Harry has accused his father Charles of cutting him off financially and Meghan claimed an unnamed royal made a comment about Archie’s skin tone before he was born – with the Sussexes having a war of words with the Palace following last year’s bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview.
It was the first time Harry and Meghan, who now live in California, had been on full public view alongside the Windsors since they quit the monarchy for a new life in the US two years ago. Crowds cheered the pair as they arrived, with the couple smiling and waving, but both boos and cheers could be heard as they departed.
Charles officially represented the absent 96-year-old monarch at the service in London which began at 11.30am. The Queen missed the historic event following a last-minute decision announced by Buckingham Palace at 7.30pm yesterday after she experienced ‘discomfort’ during Trooping The Colour events earlier in the day.
There was also no appearance at St Paul’s by Prince Andrew after he tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week. The Queen watched the service from her residence of Windsor Castle, and it was broadcast on BBC One.
The Sussexes, who are staying at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor while visiting from California, were not allowed on the Buckingham Palace balcony yesterday and instead watched proceedings from Horse Guards Parade.
Prince Charles and Camilla speak with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after arriving at St Paul’s Cathedral
The Queen’s niece, Lady Sarah, pictured behind her brother David Linley (far right), arrived by bus for the service on Friday morning with her sons, Arthur, far left, and Samuel, (second from right) who wore military uniform, and her nephew Charles Armstrong-Jones (second from left)
Princess Margaret’s daughter Lady Sarah Chatto, 58, appeared to be deep in chat with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as she took a seat next to the couple in St Paul’s Cathedral for the National Service of Thanksgiving on Friday
Lady Louise Windsor was seated between her mother Sophie Wessex and brother James, Viscount Severn, for the service
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson look at each other next to Liz Truss and Priti Patel this morning
Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi arrive for the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral
The Duchess of Sussex carried a pair of cream leather gloves in her hand as she climbed the steps at the cathedral
Yesterday, Harry and Meghan made a concerted effort not to be seen by prying eyes as they watched Trooping the Colour yesterday, arriving incognito at Horse Guards Parade and studiously keeping away from most – although not all – of the waiting photographers.
The couple arrived in the UK on Wednesday afternoon, flying in by private jet from Los Angeles to Farnborough Airport in Hampshire, where they were picked up by royal bodyguards and taken to Frogmore Cottage.
Yesterday a Range Rover with a modest escort swept them in to Central London and onto Whitehall, where they took up position in the Major General’s Office overlooking the parade ground ready for the other royals to arrive.
Among the first to greet them were Princess Beatrice and her husband, Edo, as well as the Queen’s grandson Peter Phillips.
Meghan was seen kissing his elder daughter, Savannah, 11, as his younger daughter, Isla, 10, held Zara and Mike Tindall’s younger daughter Lena, almost four.
As Princess Beatrice’s husband, Edo Mapelli-Mozzi, looked on, Meghan, 40, appeared to be sharing a secret with the youngsters, who were joined by the Tindalls’ eldest daughter Mia, eight.
Meghan, wearing a large wide-brimmed navy and white hat, put her finger mysteriously to her lips as the girls mimicked her, laughing.
However, the non-appearance of the couple’s own children, Archie, three and Lilibet, who turns one on Saturday, was noted by many on social media.
One wrote: ‘I’m praying the Queen gets some time with Archie and Lilibet. She’s been waiting so long. I also hope that there is a special christening for Lilibet before Harry returns to the USA.’
Another tweeted: ‘Where is their family? I can understand the baby staying with the nanny, but where was Archie? Why wasn’t he at the window watching with the other children?’
A third added: ‘Queen Elizabeth n Louis on the balcony were just a grandmother n her grandson!! Wish Archie n Lilibet were with her!!’
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