Their 'Photo-Cropping' Majesties: King Charles and Queen Camilla Defended Against Claims Royals Edited Meghan Markle Out of Prince Harry Birthday Picture

Buckingham Palace surprisingly wished Prince Harry a happy 40th birthday on its social channels on Sunday, September 15. However, among the pleasant surprise was a notice of omission directed at King Charles III and Queen Camilla regarding the Duke's wife, Meghan Markle.

The image shows a beaming Harry at Dogpatch Labs in Dublin in July 2018, two months after the duo's marriage. When people noticed that Meghan, who had been with Harry during the event, was missing from the picture. This led to speculation that she had been intentionally edited out, especially given the ongoing tensions between Harry and his family.

The photograph in question was taken by Jimmy Rainford and originally featured both Harry and Meghan during their time as working royals. However, it has since been clarified that two versions of the image were released that year — one featuring the couple with others in a conversation and another showing only Harry.

This suggests that the image of Harry alone was created by the photographer at the time and not edited for the recent birthday post. The version of the photo that was shared by King Charles and Queen Camilla's social media account, along with the message, "Wishing The Duke of Sussex a very happy 40th birthday today!" was not altered by the Palace's press office and "certainly not doctored by Their Majesties," according to one insider.

Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, also re-shared the same image, extending their "even more shocking" birthday wishes to the Montecito Duke. Some found the post to be "totally unexpected," considering the strained relationship between Harry and his brother. However, this did not prevent the royal family from marking the occasion publicly.

Further clarification came from claims in Daily Mail, which stated that the unedited photograph was provided to Buckingham Palace by the Press Association. Therefore, the image was used as it was originally issued, without any cropping done to maliciously snip the ex-actress from the pic.

Reactions to the post from the palace were unexpectedly mixed in the comments section.

"Yeah, it’s a no from me. After everything he did to his Grandparents and the fact he’s allowed Omid Scobie to call Catherine a royal racist, never called it out, never put out a statement to stop the attacks despite knowing of her cancer? No chance. Surprised at this account TBH," one poster shared.

Another was convinced the "olive branch that is not really an olive branch" had a hidden meaning for the monarchy. "I think it's only because it's a 'milestone' birthday tbh. A chess move nothing more. Taking the highroad and not giving ammo for Duchess difficult to use in the press."