ARCHIE turned two today, and the royal family celebrated the occasion with birthday posts on their social media pages.
However, a royal expert has said Prince Charles omitting Meghan from the photo could be a “deliberate” snub post Megxit.
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The sweet photo shared by Clarence House showed Charles, Prince Harry and Archie taken after the royal tot’s christening.
Royal commentator Duncan Larcombe told Fabulous: “It’s pretty daft to leave her [Meghan] out of it given that it wasn’t that many weeks ago she was American TV throwing accusations about the royal family left, right and centre.
“I see that as a deliberate sign of Prince Charles.
“Surely Prince Charles has enough nous to know how sensitive the situation is with his younger son and his wife.
“I’d be very surprised if Prince Charles didn’t know exactly what he was doing.”
The royal expert pointed out that the photo may have been chosen simply as it was Charles’ favourite “or likely one of the few pictures that he has even got” with Archie.
The Prince of Wales hasn’t seen his grandson in over a year, after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex relocated to California after stepping down as senior royals last March.
Duncan added of the birthday message: “While he [Charles] has every intention of wishing his grandson the very best on his second birthday, that is where it ends.
“It is a birthday message for Archie and not an olive branch.”
A post on the Royal Family’s official Instagram and Twitter pages read: “Wishing Archie Mountbatten-Windsor a very happy 2nd birthday today.”
The photo shows the family cooing over their newborn as Meghan cradles her son.
In another gushing post, shared on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s official accounts, Wills and Kate wrote: “Wishing Archie a very happy 2nd birthday today,” followed by a balloon and cake emoji.
They posted a family snap taken on Archie’s Christening when he was just two-months old, featuring the entire family together.
Duncan added that extra attention was most likely paid to Archie’s birthday this year, due to rumours of a rift post-Megxit.
He explained: “What we’ve seen on Archie’s birthday is a real charm effective from the royals.
“Absolutely make sure no one forgets to wish Archie a happy birthday publicly among the senior royals.
“It is quite a nice touch, but probably a sign of how sensitive things are that maybe there’s an extra fuss made of Archie this year.”
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born on May 6 2019 at 5.26am, weighing 7lb 3oz.
And the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are celebrating his latest milestone from their home in California as they await the arrival of their second child.
An expert yesterday said Harry and Meghan will have a video call with Her Majesty to mark the occasion.
Royal author Ingrid Seward told Entertainment Daily: “I am sure they will be in touch with the Queen so they can do a zoom call with her and Archie.
“It will be very important to them that Archie knows his royal great granny back in the UK.”
It comes after the Duchess of Sussex revealed her husband’s special bond with their son was the inspiration behind her first children’s publication, The Bench.
The little boy has only been seen rarely during the past 12 months, but did feature in a black and white video clip released in March, showing him walking along a beach watched by his parents and the family’s pet dog, Guy.
As he walked towards his father, who filmed the moment, the youngster ducked down and walked through the gap in his legs.
We shared how Meghan Markle WAS protected ‘extensively’ by Kensington Palace media team despite Oprah claims, ex-press sec tells court.
And Meghan and Prince Harry are ‘deeply touched’ by ‘support for family’ on Archie’s birthday & ask for charity donations.
