Meghan Markle turns 41: Royal family wish duchess happy birthday

Duchess of Sussex marks big day following eventful year

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee in June. Here 'The National' looks back through her life in pictures. Getty Images

Meghan places flowers at a makeshift memorial outside Uvalde County Courthouse in Texas, in May, after the shooting of 19 children at Uvalde elementary school. AFP

Meghan speaks during the Invictus Games opening ceremony at Zuiderpark in the Netherlands, in April. Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan arrive at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum for the Salute to Freedom Gala in New York, in November 2021. AP

Meghan appears on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' at the Warner Bros lot in Burbank, California, in November 2018. PA

Prince Harry and Meghan appear on the cover of 'Time' magazine's 100 most influential people in the world edition, in September 2021. Reuters

Prince Harry and Meghan speak during a Global Citizen Live event in New York, in September 2021. AFP

Prince Harry and Meghan leave the UN headquarters in New York after a visit in September 2021. AFP

Meghan and Prince Harry pause while getting a tour of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York, in September 2021. AP

Prince Harry and Meghan are interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. Reuters

Meghan and Prince Harry shared this image on social media in February 2021 to announce they were expecting their second child. AFP

Meghan and Prince Harry attend the Commonwealth Day Service in London, in March 2020. Getty Images

Meghan and Prince Harry arrive to attend the Mountbatten Music Festival at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in March 2020. Getty Images

Meghan holds her baby son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor during a royal tour of South Africa in September 2019. Getty Images

Meghan and Prince Harry visit Auwal Mosque, the first and oldest mosque in South Africa, in the Bo Kaap district of Cape Town, in September 2019. Reuters

Meghan meets Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Jay-Z as they attend the European Premiere of Disney's 'The Lion King' at Leicester Square in London, in July 2019. Getty Images

Meghan and Prince Harry pose with their newborn son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor at Windsor Castle in May 2019. Getty Images

Meghan, joined by her mother Doria Ragland, shows her new son to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle in May 2019. AP

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Meghan arrive to attend a Christmas Day church service on the Sandringham estate in December 2018. Getty Images

Prince William, Catherine, Prince Harry and Meghan attend a service marking the centenary of the First World War armistice at Westminster Abbey, in November 2018. Getty Images

Meghan poses in Sydney during a tour of Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand, in October 2018. Getty Images

Meghan holds an umbrella for Prince Harry as he addresses the public during a Community Event in Dubbo, Australia, in October 2018. Getty Images

Meghan helps to prepare food at an event to mark the launch of a cookbook with recipes from a group of women affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, at Kensington Palace, in September 2018. Getty Images

Catherine and Meghan attend the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships in London in July 2018. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth, Meghan, Prince Harry, Prince William and Catherine watch the RAF 100th anniversary flypast from the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018. Getty Images

Meghan, Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth at the Queen's Young Leaders Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace in June 2018. Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth sits and laughs with Meghan during a ceremony to open the new Mersey Gateway Bridge in Cheshire, in June 2018. Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan leave St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on their wedding day in May 2018. Getty Images

Meghan and Prince Harry wave as they leave Windsor Castle after their wedding to attend an evening reception at Frogmore House, in May 2018. Getty Images

Meghan and her mother, Doria Ragland, arrive at Cliveden House Hotel in Berkshire to spend the night before her wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018. Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan during a photo call to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace, in November 2017. Getty Images

Meghan appears as character Rachel Zane in American TV show 'Suits', in 2011. Getty Images

Meghan while working as a host on American quiz show 'Deal Or No Deal' in 2006. Getty Images

Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, celebrates her 41st birthday on Thursday.

The royal family congratulated her on social media, sharing pictures of her to mark the occasion.

Images of Meghan during her UK visit to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee were posted on the official Twitter accounts of the Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The duchess is likely to mark her big day privately with husband Harry and their children, Archie and Lilibet, in California where they live.

Prince William and Kate’s official Twitter account posted an image of the duchess attending the St Paul’s Cathedral service of thanksgiving in June that marked the queen’s 70-year reign.

It featured the words: “Wishing a happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex!”

Prince Charles and Camilla’s Twitter account posted a similar image of Meghan from the service alongside a balloon emoji and the words “Happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex!”

Meghan and Harry have established a new life for themselves in the celebrity enclave of Montecito in California, buying a multimillion-pound home and launching a non-profit foundation, after stepping down as working royals for financial freedom.

The couple have also signed lucrative deals — thought to be worth more than £100 million ($121m) — with Spotify and Netflix that have given them the capital to pursue their new lifestyle and public goals.

The former actress officially joined the British royal family in 2018 when she married Prince Harry in a relatively low-key ceremony at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

The couple's son Archie was born in 2019 before the family welcomed daughter Lilibet, named in honour of her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth, in 2021.

They had initially intended to live at Frogmore Cottage in the grounds of Windsor Castle, following a controversial £2.4m makeover paid for by UK taxpayers.

But unrelenting press scrutiny in Britain is said to have become too much to bear. They stepped aside from royal duties and moved to California's Pacific coast.

A subsequent TV interview with Oprah Winfrey threatened to open a major schism in the royal family following explosive allegations of racism and bullying.

In May, the couple returned to the UK for Queen Elizabeth's platinum jubilee celebrations, but their role in the festivities was curtailed and they were not allowed to join senior royals on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as part of the Trooping the Colour ceremony.

In January, the duchess won undisclosed damages against The Mail on Sunday after a court ruled that the paper had infringed her privacy over the publication of letters to her estranged father, Thomas Markle.

Her Archetypes podcast was unveiled on Spotify in March, but her animated series Pearl was cancelled by Netflix in a cost-cutting move.

In July, she accompanied her husband as he addressed the UN General Assembly to mark Nelson Mandela International Day, held annually on the former South African president's birthday.

Last year, the duchess celebrated her 40th birthday by announcing her 40x40 mentorship programme for women returning to the workplace.

The programme enlisted the help of her friends, the poet Amanda Gorman, social activist Gloria Steinem, singer Adele, fashion designer Stella McCartney, chef Jose Andres and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.