Did Royal Family crop out Meghan Markle while sharing Prince Harry’s photo? Buckingham Palace says…

Buckingham Palace has clarified that a photo shared by King Charles and Prince William for Prince Harry’s 40th birthday wasn’t edited to exclude Meghan Markle.

The picture, originally taken during Harry and Meghan’s 2018 trip to Dublin, shows a smiling close-up of Harry. The Royal Family, along with the Prince and Princess of Wales, shared the photo to celebrate Harry’s milestone birthday on Sunday.

“Wishing The Duke of Sussex a very happy 40th birthday today!” said the post's caption.

Royal observers noticed that Prince Harry's photo, taken while he was still a working Royal, originally included his wife, the Duchess of Sussex. This sparked rumours online, with some suggesting that the Royal Family intentionally cropped her out of the image.

However, it has now been clarified that both the cropped version of Harry alone and the full picture featuring his wife were uploaded by the Press Association to Getty Images on the same day back in 2018.

A Palace spokesperson has confirmed to The Independent that the image was not altered. It was used in the format it was received, according to Palace.

Harry-Meghan’s relationship with the Royal Family has worsened since they stepped down from Royal duties in 2020. This strain increased after Harry released his memoir, Spare, where he made serious claims, including an incident where William allegedly attacked him during a disagreement about Meghan.

Peace gesture?

Some see the Royal Family's recent sharing of Harry’s birthday image as a peace gesture. Others believe it simply follows the tradition set by Queen Elizabeth II, who ensured birthdays of non-working Royals were acknowledged on official platforms for milestone years ending in zero. Harry turned 40 this year on September 15.

Despite this, fans were excited as this was the first time the Royal Family publicly recognised Harry’s birthday since 2021.