Princess Lilibet celebrated her third birthday an entire ocean away from the Windsors and did not receive any public wishes from them on Tuesday, June 4.
The youngest child to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Lilibet celebrated her birthday with a star-studded party at the Sussexes’ $14 million mansion in Montecito, California, over the weekend. Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, and other celebrities are believed to have attended the birthday bash.
Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, or Lili, was named using one of the nicknames for the late Queen Elizabeth II. She also made history by being the first senior royal baby to be born in the U.S.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle hosted a party in Montecito, California, over the weekend as their daughter, Princess Lilibet, turned 3 years old on Tuesday, June 4
It was only about a year after her birth when Lilibet traveled to the UK to physically meet her father’s side of the family. At the time, Prince Harry and his wife traveled with their two children to attend Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee festivities in June 2022. Interestingly, the trip coincided with the little one’s first birthday, which allowed the royal family to celebrate the day together at Frogmore Cottage.
“Wishing Lilibet a very Happy 1st Birthday!” read a tweet from the late queen’s official account that year.
Two years later, Lilibet’s third birthday bash took place on Tuesday in the company of celebrities.
“Rather than go for a low-key celebration Harry and Meghan have spent the past weekend enjoying a pre-birthday bash for their daughter Lillibet’s third birthday – hugely expensive presents have been ruled out but the couple’s mansion in California was awash with celebrities including Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom and their daughter Daisy who is just a few months older than Lilibet,” Royal expert Tom Quinn told The Mirror.
Meanwhile, the toddler’s royal family members back in the UK did not publicly wish her.
Since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals, their children have not received public birthday wishes from the palace this year
It is customary for the official social media accounts belonging to King Charles as well as the Prince and Princess of Wales to post birthday wishes for working members of the royal family. Hence, since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have stepped back as senior royals, it is no surprise that the official social media accounts of Lilibet’s grandfather and Prince William did not mark her birthday.
Her older brother, Prince Archie, also did not receive public wishes from the senior royals when he turned 5 years old last month.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle became parents after welcoming Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in 2019
“In recent years and certainly since King Charles III’s reign began in September 2022, we have only seen public messages from the royal family’s social media accounts for working members of the royal family, such as the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and the Princess Royal,” HELLO!‘s online royal correspondent Danielle Stacey told the outlet.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals in 2020, and no longer carry out royal duties,” Danielle added. “Similarly, the palace doesn’t typically share messages on the likes of Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, and Zara Tindall’s birthdays nor their children’s special days.”
In recent years, official accounts belonging to senior royals have only shared birthday wishes for working members and their families
While King Charles did not make a public gesture of affection to mark his youngest granddaughter’s birthday, sources claimed he still sent her a gift and a message.
“King Charles had no intention of completely ignoring Lilibet’s birthday so he has sent a gift along with a message,” Tom told The Mirror.
“He gave Prince George a beautiful hand-made wooden swing with George’s name carved on it and he has plans to give something similar to Lilibet but not this year. And not unless and until the family feud dies down,” the source added.
For her first birthday, Princess Lilibet shared the day in the company of the royal family as the day fell during the Sussexes trip to the UK in 2022
Tom also claimed that the Sussexes did not include members of the royal family on the guest list for their daughter’s birthday.
“Shockingly no invitations to Lilibet’s party were issued to members of the Royal Family,” he claimed. “One of Harry’s old army friends said: ‘Harry knew they wouldn’t come anyway and he was pretty sure he would not have wanted them there. But he is really sad that Archie and Lilibet cannot have any kind of relationship with their cousins while his feud with his family continues.’”
Sources claimed that royal family members were not included in the guest list for Lilibet’s third birthday bash
Royal expert Phil Dampier also claimed that there is an “underlying sadness” among the royal family due to the “rift” between the Sussexes and the rest of the family.
“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 said on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show.
“I think he’s 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,” he added.
“There is this underlying sadness of course because of the rift that the King is not seeing his grandchildren,” royal expert Phil Dampier claimed
During an interview with Good Morning America earlier this year, Prince Harry said his children are “growing up very, very fast” and that he is “grateful” to be a father.
“They both have got an incredible sense of humor and make us laugh and keep us grounded every single day, like most kids do,” he said in February. “I’m just very grateful to be a dad.”
Meghan also recently spoke about Lilibet and how the toddler’s “favorite class” is “singing and dancing,” probably because of “all the jumping around.”
While visiting a school in Nigeria with Prince Harry earlier this year, the Duchess spoke to the students about her “very chatty, sweet children.”
Archie and Lilibet have an “incredible sense of humor and make us laugh,” said Prince Harry, who is raising his two kids away from the public eye
“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,” the mother-of-two told the Lightway Academy’s students in Nigeria.
“Mama, I see me in you,” Lilibet told the Suits alum.
Although the child was speaking “really literally,” the former actress said she really “hung onto those words in a very different way.”
“I thought, yes, I do see me in you, and you see me in you. As I look around this room, I see myself in all of you as well,” she added.
Some social media users said it’s impressive how the Sussexes are able to shield their children from the “chaos and limelight”
