The Royal Family has been praised for "taking the higher ground" in extending birthday wishes to Prince Harry on his 40th birthday, marking a significant moment in their ongoing rift.
The Duke of Sussex received public messages from both the official Royal Family and the Prince and Princess of Wales's accounts on social media.
Prince William and Princess Kate re-posted the image shared by the Royal Family with the message: "Wishing a Happy 40th Birthday to The Duke of Sussex!"
After two years of silence, royal expert Rafe Heydel-Mankoo suggested the move is the monarchy "adhering to established conventions", but also not "stooping to their level" amid the ongoing rift between the royals and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Prince Harry's birthday message was the Royal Family 'taking the higher ground', it has been claimed
Getty / GB News
Detailing the standard tradition in acknowledging milestone birthdays of non-working royals, Heydel-Mankoo told GB News: "It is entirely in keeping with the established convention laid down in the late Queen's reign. If you are a working royal, then you get annual birthday greetings as desired on social media.
"But if you're a non-working royal like Prince Harry, then only the major milestone birthdays are acknowledged. And actually Meghan herself got a 40th birthday greeting in 2021 after they had split, and after that infamous and horrendous Oprah Winfrey interview."
Noting the absence of Meghan in the chosen photo of Prince Harry, Heydel-Mankoo admitted it was "noteworthy" that the Royal Family had made that decision.
He said: "The photograph that they chose to post had been carefully cropped to excise Meghan from the image.
"I'm sure that is something many people are hoping will happen in real life too."
The Royal Family shared an image of Prince Harry from 2018 in their birthday message, cropping out Meghan Markle
Getty
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Reflecting on Prince Harry's frosty relationship with his father King Charles and brother Prince William, Heydel-Mankoo praised the royals for "not stooping down and being seen to be too involved in all the shenanigans", despite everything Harry and Meghan have accused them of.
When asked if there's any hope of a royal reconciliation between the brothers or King Charles, Heydel-Mankoo said he believes King Charles harbours hopes of a reunion. He said: "The King is a deeply loving father, he's also a very Christian King as well.
"And I think he is desperately hoping to have that prodigal son moment when his son in exile comes back and hopefully apologises.
"Of course, the idea that his once beloved brother will go down that path, I think, is for the birds."
Rafe Heydel-Mankoo says King Charles is a 'deeply loving father' to both Harry and William
GB News
Highlighting the stark contrast between Prince Harry's 40th birthday and his 30th, he added: "Ten years ago, William and Kate were actually organising Harry's 30th birthday bash at Clarence House, where he was surrounded by all his family, his lifelong school friends, even his ex-girlfriend was there."
"Ten years later, he's having a very different birthday at home with his family, and then going off on some sort of male bonding Kumbaya in the wilderness with a bunch of new friends that he had met recently."
Despite the current estrangement between the Duke and Prince, Heydel-Mankoo suggested that the rift may wither as the royals get older.
He told GB News: "When you get into your 40s and middle aged, normally you mature a bit and the passions and tantrums and arguments of your 30s begin to seem a bit less important."
