Sending their love from across the pond. Prince William and Duchess Kate took to Instagram to send Prince Harry a birthday message on Tuesday, September 15.
“Wishing a very happy birthday to Prince Harry today! 🎂🎈,” the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s official Instagram captioned a throwback photo with the 36-year-old prince on his special day.
William and Kate, both 38, opted to share a photo from a February 2017 Heads Together initiative race. In the snap, Harry has a smile on his face as he beats the couple in a 50-meter race at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s London Marathon Community Track.
While the photo seemingly depicts a happy time for the trio, fans in the comments section of the post were quick to point out that Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, was nowhere to be found.
“The shade of them using this pic rather than one including his wife ☕️,” one user wrote.
A second person added, “We just love to remember how happy he was here. ❤️”
“Interesting photo selection! No Meghan…” a third commenter posted.
Another royal enthusiast, however, noted, “Harry’s birthday, not Meghan’s. He was born alone and not attached to her. I think this is a perfect pic.”
Queen Elizabeth II’s official Instagram account also shared a photo from 2017 for Harry’s birthday.
“Wishing The Duke of Sussex a very happy birthday!” the post read, noting that the picture was taken during the 94-year-old monarch’s Young Leaders reception at Buckingham Palace.
Harry is likely spending his birthday away from his family in the U.K. as he and Meghan, 39, moved to the United States earlier this year after announcing their plans to step back from their senior royal duties. According to the tell-all book Finding Freedom, which was released last month, William and Harry’s relationship has been strained since the future king reached out to make sure his younger brother “wasn’t blinded by lust” at the beginning of his romance with Meghan.
“Some felt it was an overreaction,” authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand claimed in ihe book, which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have denied being involved with. “But then, this sums them up as people — William, the calm and rational one, and Harry, who can’t help but take things far too personally.”
By the summer of 2017, per the book, Harry’s visits with William, Kate and their kids — Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 2 — had “come to a virtual halt.”
Harry and Meghan, meanwhile, wed in May 2018 and welcomed son Archie the following year. Us confirmed last month that they moved into a $14.65 million home in Santa Barbara, California.