Queen Elizabeth is celebrating the birthday of a close family member—Meghan Markle!
The Duchess of Sussex turns 40-year-old today and to mark the occasion, Her Majesty shared a special tribute on social media. Early Wednesday, the monarch shared a slideshow of photos of Markle on the official Royal Family Instagram and Twitter accounts. “Wishing The Duchess of Sussex a very Happy Birthday today!” she captioned the post alongside a balloon emoji.
While we’re happy to see the 95-year-old sending her granddaughter-in-law some kind sentiments on her special day, we think the sentiments, specifically the photo choices, show a message of support for the new mom of two. In fact, we also couldn’t help but notice that one of the queen’s pics was the same image she shared on the duchess’s 39th birthday.
The snap, which features Elizabeth looking regal in lime green while standing next to Markle, was taken during their visit to Cheshire in summer 2018. Not only was it the duo’s first official engagement together, but it marked the Suits star’s first royal engagement sans Prince Harry. The meaning behind the choice seems pretty obvious as the picture literally shows the queen standing with Markle.
As for the other two photos, one features Markle holding baby Archie alongside Prince Harry during their South African tour, while the other showcases the couple clapping and smiling while attending last year’s Endeavour Fund Awards ceremony (on March 31 to be exact).
All three photos in the bunch seem to be very positive moments in Markle’s life, obviously chosen on purpose to offer a sign of continued support since the couple’s decision to step down as senior royals.
Clearly, Liz has a keen attention to detail (and so do we).
Stay up-to-date on every breaking royals story by subscribing here.