Prince Harry is expected to have a muted 38th birthday today as the royals mourn the death of the Queen. Her grandson turns 38 on Thursday.
One royal expert has also drawn parallels with his 13th birthday, which came just a couple of weeks after the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997. Harry remains in the UK with is wife Meghan ahead of his grandmother's state funeral on Monday.
Speaking exclusively to OK!, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond gave her take on how the day might look.
She said: "It’s going to be another incredibly sad birthday for Harry, which will surely recall memories of 25 years ago when he turned 13 a couple of weeks after his mother died. I'm sure he will spend Thursday very, very quietly. There have been suggestions that the children are going to be flown over with Meghan's mother Doria, so he can be reunited with them, but who knows?"
Jennie added: "You have to feel for Harry, though, you really do. I'm sure it will be just a very quiet day. But then again, maybe it will give pause for thought and William and Kate might pop round with a pizza or something!"
Harry and Meghan were on an unofficial European tour when news of the Queen's ill-health broke last week. He then rushed to Balmoral, separate from the other Royals, and tragically arrived after his grandmother's death was announced to the world.
While Harry's relationships with Prince William and King Charles have been strained, he has since been seen with them on two occasions. On Saturday, Harry greeted mourners at Windsor Castle alongside his wife, as well as his brother and sister-in-law, the new Prince and Princess of Wales.
They took time to meet with members of the public, before admiring the thousands of floral tributes to the Queen. The brothers hadn't been seen together since the unveiling of a statue of their late mother Princess Diana in July 2021.
The Telegraph reported that mum-of-three Kate, 40, is believed to have told a family in the crowd: "At times like this you’ve got to come together."
Crowds also saw Meghan, 41, hug one member of the public, while Kate shared a sweet anecdote about her youngest son, Louis' reaction to the death of the Queen. She recalled the words of her four-year-old son: "At least grannie is with great grandpa now."
Following the death of Her Majesty the Queen last week, tributes flooded in from all over the world. Prince William spoke of his heartfelt memories as he spoke of her “wisdom and reassurance”, while Harry praised her "unwavering grace" and said he "cherishes" his "earliest childhood memories".
In his tribute, he wrote: "Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings—from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren."
On Wednesday, Prince William, 40, and Harry accompanied their father King Charles as they walked behind the Queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where she will lie in state until her funeral on Monday. They were joined by the Duke of York, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex, while the Queen Consort, the Princess of Wales, the Countess of Wessex and the Duchess of Sussex travelled by car.
