Kate Middleton marked her 40th birthday publicly this weekend by sharing a series of portraits taken of her on the royal social media accounts. Privately, royal expert Christopher Andersen told Us Weekly, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were part of the Duchess of Cambridge’s big day from afar. Anderson said that “they did a video call” with Kate. “They wished her a happy birthday. [It was] very private. Harry and Meghan were not about to post anything the way they did two years ago.”
Meghan and Harry, it’s worth noting, do not have social media accounts currently, so they have no Instagram account to post on. They have made announcements about their charity work on their non-profit Archewell’s website from time to time, but it has not served as a personal blog for them. The couple has instead kept their relationships—and royal family birthday wishes—offline.
Meghan and Harry’s relationship with the royal family has been somewhat strained following their decision to step back from their senior royal family duties and moving to Montecito, California.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex spoke to Oprah in March 2021 about their experience as working royals, the racism they experienced (including from family members concerned about how dark Archie’s skin would be), and disregard for mental health from the Firm (royal family and staff). Their comments made global headlines.
In December, a source spoke to People about how the estrangement between Meghan, Harry, and the royal family affects Kate. A close insider told the outlet that Kate has been “really, really upset about it all.”
Privately, Kate and Meghan, at least, were never close even when Meghan was part of the Firm. Royal reporters Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote in their 2020 Sussex biography Finding Freedom that “Meghan would agree with the assessment that the duchesses were not the best of friends. Their relationship hadn’t progressed much since she was Harry’s girlfriend.”
A source told Scobie and Durand that Kate felt the two didn’t have much in common “other than the fact that they lived at Kensington Palace.” Meghan and Harry moved from Harry’s Nottingham Cottage home to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor and then, ultimately, put down roots in California.
Источник: www.elle.com
