Prince Harry’s relationship with members of the royal family was pulled back into public focus on Sunday as he celebrated his milestone 40th birthday, as social media users accused the royals of cropping Meghan Markle out of an image used to officially mark the occasion.

Since their split from the monarchy and move to the U.S. in 2020, the couple’s strained relationships with King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Kate have filled thousands of press reports and social media posts.

In interviews, documentaries and books, the couple presented their side of the events which led to their eventual stepping down as working royals and trans-Atlantic move, and in the process they have confirmed and denied a number of damning rumors and reports.

At the time of the publication of his memoir, Spare, in 2023, Harry revealed that tensions had become so strained with Charles and William that they were not currently on speaking terms with him.

Since then, the prince attended the king and queen’s coronation in May 2023 but was not photographed interacting with his immediate family members, and most recently he reportedly attended the funeral of his uncle Lord Robert Fellowes, in August 2024, but though William was also present, the brothers were not seen to interact.

In the shadow of these reports then, speculation in Britain arose in recent weeks as to whether the royal family would choose to publicly mark Harry’s 40th birthday milestone with a message or statement through their social media channels.

In recent years, Buckingham Palace adopted a policy that only working members of the royal family received social media posts wishing them a happy birthday, and since Harry is no longer included among that select number of royals, he would not technically be expected to receive recognition on his birthday.

When the day came on September 15, however, Harry did receive two posts. One from official royal family accounts on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram which represent King Charles and Queen Camilla, and one from an account representing Prince William and Princess Kate.

“🎂 Wishing The Duke of Sus𝑠e𝑥 a very happy 40th birthday today!” the royal family account captioned their post. William and Kate’s said: “Wishing a Happy 40th Birthday to The Duke of Sus𝑠e𝑥!”

The posts themselves though, lead to controversy of their own.

Soon after they were uploaded, social media users began to accuse the royals of cropping Meghan out of the photo used—with the suggestion being that the snub should not therefore be interpreted as an “olive branch.”

“Just so you know, the Royal Family cropped Meghan out of that photo. This is not an olive branch,” wrote X user @TribesBritannia, in a post that has been viewed over 101,000 times on the platform, so far.

“Charles and William both wish Harry a happy birthday—but use photo in which Meghan is cropped out,” posted another. With a further adding:

“😒 The #royalfamily’s fake birthday post to #Harry is just a PR stunt to distract from their toxic dynamics. 🙅‍♂️ And #Meghan being cropped out is a clear sign of their ongoing cruelty. 💔 It’s time to #AbolishTheMonarchy and reject their outdated, discriminatory values👑.”

The photograph used by the royal social media accounts was taken on July 11, 2018, during an official visit to Ireland made by Harry and Meghan in the weeks after their wedding.

During their stay in the city of Dublin, the couple visited the Dogpatch Labs, a digital startup and innovation hub with over 500 members, and they were photographed chatting with leaders and members seated at a round table.

Harry and Meghan were sat next to each other for the table discussion, with official royal rota photographers capturing a number of images. One of these was the shot used by the royal social media channels for Harry’s 40th birthday posts.

The original image which was taken by Press Association photographer Jimmy Rainford and is available to license through photo agency, Getty Images as well as The Associated Press.

Both agencies carry two versions of the photo. One where members of Dogpatch Labs and Meghan can be seen on either side of Harry as he smiles broadly with his hands folded, and a second which is a close crop showing Harry solo in center frame.

It is therefore likely that the royal social accounts simply ran the pre-cropped version of the image, rather than cropping it themselves in any perceived snub to the duchess.

It is not unusual for members of the royal family who receive birthday posts on the official social media channels to be featured without their spouses.

In June, to mark Prince William’s birthday, a photo of the infant prince being held by King Charles was used.

In January, Princess Kate’s birthday was marked with a photo taken during the coronation.