Why King Charles didn't wish Meghan Markle a Happy Birthday: Real reason explained

Milestones and significant birthdays for members of the royal family are always a moment of public scrutiny, and not least the social media posts that are often put out by channels such as Buckingham Palace or Clarence House.

However, when The Duchess of Sussex turned 45, the silence on behalf of the royal family’s accounts was more noticeable this year and the reason has now been explained, due to “traditional’ protocol”.

Based upon typical royal guidelines, royal social media channels are reserved for working members of the royal household when wishing them well on a special occasion, such as a birthday on X and Instagram.

Here’s what the change in protocol

The change came as part of a need to standardize royal media, and set out clear parameters, especially after the structural changes brought in in the monarchy. The system that was used prior to 2020 would regularly see wider family members and other non-working royals receive shoutouts on social media, for their birthdays, but after Harry and Meghan became non-working royals, they have focused the scope on official Palace or Clarence House communications on full-time working royals only.

Although there may have been a private wishing between members of the family, royal observers believe that private messages between members of the family would be handled between them privately without being released to the public on the official social media channels, while abiding by institutional guidance.