Meghan Markle was not deliberately cut out of a photo used to celebrate Prince Harry’s birthday, Buckingham Palace says.
The close-up of Harry—snapped during a 2018 trip to Dublin back when the couple still carried out royal duties—was shared on X by Buckingham Palace on Sunday with the caption: “Wishing The Duke of Sussex a very happy 40th birthday today!”
Users were quick to observe that a wider cut of the image had actually featured Markle sitting to the left of her husband, prompting speculation the original had been cropped to deliberately snub the Duchess.
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However, The Independent found that both a cropped and wider cut of the image were uploaded to Getty Images by the photographer on the same day in 2018. A spokesperson for the Palace told the outlet that it did not cut Markle from the frame, having instead simply chosen the version of the picture without her in it.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been at war with the royal family since 2020, when they stepped back from royal duties to speak publicly about their alleged mistreatment, in particular by King Charles and Prince William.
The British royals have previously faced claims of image manipulation over photos shared on their social media channels. In March, Kate Middleton was forced to apologize after altering an image in a Mother’s Day post amid intense speculation about her health.
Middleton temporarily disappeared from public life earlier this year, fueling a raft of wild and outlandish conspiracy theories before it was later revealed to have been prompted by her shock cancer diagnosis. The Princess of Wales said in a video earlier this month that she has completed her chemotherapy treatment and is now focused on staying “cancer-free.”
