Kate's birthday curse - Harry's bombshells, Megxit drama and Covid lockdown

09 January 2024 , 08:30

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Kate's birthday curse - Harry's bombshells, Megxit drama and Covid lockdown

The Princess of Wales celebrates her 42nd birthday today - and a seemingly peaceful celebration surrounded by her family and friends appears to be on the cards.

And if that's the case, it will be the first time in years that Kate's special day hasn't been overshadowed by other royal family scandal - not least events surrounding Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. For the past few years memoir bombshells, Megxit and even a Covid lockdown have all marred her birthday.

Just last year, when Kate turned 41 on her first birthday as Princess of Wales, she had to celebrate just a day before Harry's controversial memoir Spare hits shelves. And when the book did finally come out, it became clear Harry had dished on his sister-in-law.

Twice Kate's birthday has been overshadowed by events surrounding Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In the book and in several interviews to promote it, he accused Kate of "stereotyping" his wife Meghan Markle, saying her behaviour created a barrier and shared details of a row over bridesmaids' dresses at the time of his wedding, which left Meghan in tears. He also wrote how Kate asked for an apology from Meghan when she accused her of having "baby brain" following the birth of Prince Louis and that Kate "grimaced" when Meghan borrowed her lipgloss.

But it is not the first time Kate’s birthday has fallen in the shadow of bombshell revelations from the Sussex camp. The day before her 38th birthday in 2020, Harry and Meghan made the shock announcement that they would be stepping back as senior members of the royal family. It led to days of turmoil, which came to a head several days later at the so-called Sandringham Summit.

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One year later in 2021 when she turned 39, Kate's birthday was overshadowed by a third Covid-19 lockdown. Just the day before her big day the UK government put in place stay-at-home orders yet again in order to stop the spread of the virus.

And in 2022, when she reached the landmark age of 40, fears over the Omicron variant of Covid put paid to any celebrations at the time. It was reported she and Prince William would later have a joint 40th celebration hosted by the late Queen - but that doesn't appear to have happened.

Kate, who was born in 1982, grew up in Bucklebury, Berkshire, and went to the private boarding school Marlborough College. She met William in 2001 while studying art history at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. The couple, who briefly split in 2007, married in April 2011 at Westminster Abbey and have since had three children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Jennifer Newton