Meghan Markle will be celebrating her 43rd birthday today – but it turns out she isn’t the only member of the Royal Family to have a connection to August 4.
Meghan Markle will be celebrating her 43rd birthday today. (Image: PA Wire)
Meghan Markle will be celebrating her birthday today – but the date is also special for her brother-in-law Prince William.
The Duchess of Sussex has celebrated her recent birthdays privately with her husband Prince Harry and children Archie and Lillibet. But even before Meghan came into the picture, August 4 was a significant day for William.
That is because on August 4, 1982, when Meghan was just a year old, the heir to the throne was christened Prince William Arthur Philip Louis in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace. The Archbishop of Canterbury performed the ceremony with crowds gathering outside.
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William was just six weeks old when his mother, Princess Diana, and father the-then Prince Charles, posed for his official portrait with his grandparents – Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip – and his great-grandmother the Queen Mother. A portrait would also mark Harry’s baptism in 194, reports People magazine.
Prince William was baptised on August 4. (Image: Getty)
In his book Catherine: The Princess of Wales, author Robert Jobson wrote: “A large crowd had gathered outside the Palace and the Queen Mother appeared on the balcony before the ceremony. This time it was completely private, a closed event.
“Photographer Jason Bell was invited to take the historic photographs at Clarence House, including one of the monarch and the three direct heirs to the throne, Princes Charles,William and George, the first time such a picture had been taken since 1899, when an eighty-year-old Queen Victoria posed with her direct successors, Edward VII, George V and Edward VIII.”
William’s own children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and six-year-old Prince Louis also had their own portraits taken at their christenings. Although Princess Kate and William are said to have opted for more scaled-back ceremonies for their children.
The Queen Mother was born on August 4. (Image: Getty)
It wasn’t the only royal connection to August 4 either. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was born on August 4, 1900. She died aged 101 in 2002 – making her the first member of the Royal Family to live past 100.
In his explosive memoir Spare, Harry shared the touching moment King Charles discovered Meghan shared a birthday with The Queen Mother. Harry said the connection came to light as he and Meghan visited the King in Scotland in 2018.
Harry wrote: “The bond between Meg and Pa, always strong, grew even stronger during that weekend. One night, over pre-dinner cocktails, Fred Astaire playing in the background, it emerged that Meg shared a birthdate with Pa’s favourite person: Gan-Gan
“’Amazing,’ Pa said with a smile. At the memory of Gan-Gan, and the link between her and my bride, he suddenly became buoyant, telling stories I’d never heard, essentially performing, showing off for her.”
