The Royal Family’s official social media channels and public communications may prioritise significant public events, official duties, and milestones over personal celebrations of extended family members.
In the past year alone, the Firm has chosen not to publicly mark the birthdays of non-working royals – such as Lilibet and her brother, Prince Archie.
Princess Lilibet, daughter of Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, is set to celebrate her third birthday tomorrow on Tuesday, June 4. She is most likely to mark her birthday at her home in California with her parents.
However, Harry and Meghan haven’t publicly acknowledged their children’s birthdays on social media for several years and royal fans will also notice that the Royal Family haven’t either – according to US Weekly, the real reason is that there is “no protocol” to wish non-working members of the Firm birthday wishes.
However, the Royal Family did publicly mark Lilibet’s first birthday in June 2022. At the time, the official X account of the Royal Family wrote: “Wishing Lilibet a very happy 1st birthday!”
The now-Prince and Princess of Wales also sent their niece special birthday wishes on X, tweeting: “Wishing a very happy birthday to Lilibet, turning one today!”
But the British royal family’s decision not to publicly mark Princess Lilibet’s birthday likely stems from a combination of factors related to family dynamics, public roles, and privacy preferences.
For instance, given the strained relations between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and the rest of the Royal Family, the Firm might choose to avoid public statements that could be misinterpreted or lead to further media scrutiny.
Speaking to The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show, royal expert, Phil Dampier said: “It is amazing that she’s already three but there is this underlying sadness of course because of the rift that the King is not seeing his grandchildren.”
Phil added: “I think he’s [King Charles] only met Lilibet possibly once and Archie only a couple of times and they are seventh and eighth in line to the throne, growing up in California on the West Coast of America with American accents and they just don’t see them.”
Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’s cousins are Prince George, Prince Louis, and Princess Charlotte – the three children of Prince William and Princess Kate.
During Harry and Meghan’s visit to Nigeria in May, an emotional Meghan spoke about Lilibet’s phrase that blew her away. Speaking at a panel on women’s leadership, Meghan spoke of the joys and challenges of motherhood and while at the school, she took the opportunity to share an anecdote about her daughter Lilibet.
She said: “Our daughter, Lili, she’s much, much tinier than you guys. She’s about to turn three, and a few weeks ago she looked at me and she would just see the reflection in my eyes.”
In a touching moment, Lilibet said to Meghan: “Mama, I see me in you.”
The Duchess of Sussex shared the anecdote with crowds as she embarked on a quick-fire 72-hour tour of Nigeria with Harry to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games.