Meghan Markle quietly rang in her 41st birthday yesterday, with no paparazzi photos emerging of her celebrating or posts on her non-profit Archewell’s site detailing how the Duchess is doing. But her spokesperson gave a small update to Entertainment Tonight about how Meghan celebrated her day. “Meghan Markle is spending the day celebrating with family and close friends,” the spokesperson said yesterday.
Prince Charles; Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall; Kate Middleton; and Prince William publicly wished Meghan well on their social media accounts. Their statements offered a very small, diplomatic glimpse into their relationship with the Duchess. “Happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex! 🎈” Charles and Camilla shared on their Clarence House social media accounts.
“Wishing a happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex!” Kate and William wrote on their own Instagram and Twitter.
Meghan has largely lived her life privately since stepping back from her senior working royal family role with her husband Prince Harry. The Duchess, Harry, and their two children Archie and Lili are quietly settled in their Montecito, California, home, with not much coming out about their day-to-day lives there.
A source did talk recently to Us Weekly about how Meghan feels about the Palace’s bullying probe of her being finished. The royals opted not to release the results publicly, which disappointed Meghan and Harry, as Us Weekly reported that the investigation actually cleared her name.
“Meghan is a fair boss and never bullied anyone who worked for her at the Palace in the first place,” Us‘s source said. “She’s happy that her name has been cleared from the defamatory claims. She and Harry are looking forward to putting the incident behind them and are happily moving on with their lives in Montecito.”
A second source reiterated, “The couple is disappointed that the results of the review of the investigation will not be shared.”
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.