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Royals wish the Duchess of Sussex a happy birthday in public show of unity

The Queen has wished the Duchess of Sussex happy birthday - Max Mumby/Indigo
The Queen has wished the Duchess of Sussex happy birthday - Max Mumby/Indigo

The Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have wished the Duchess of Sussex a happy 39th birthday in a public show of unity after their fractured relationships were laid bare in a new biography.

Buckingham Palace posted a photograph on Twitter of the Queen, 94, and the Duchess on a joint visit to Chester in 2018 - their first joint engagement.

It wrote, alongside pictures of a birthday cake and a balloon: “Wishing The Duchess of Sussex a very happy birthday!”

Barely 20 minutes later, shortly before 9am, the Cambridges added their own good wishes, writing: “Wishing a very happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex today!”

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall also posted birthday wishes, posting a photograph of Meghan taken during an official visit to New Zealand in 2018 on social media with the message: "Happy Birthday to The Duchess of Sussex!"

The Duchess is expected to spend her birthday quietly with Prince Harry and their son, Archie, at the sprawling, gated mansion in Los Angeles where they have been holed up since moving from Canada in March.

It comes at a time of great turbulence for the couple, following a slew of bitter allegations laid bare in a new tell-all book, Finding Freedom, which is published this month.

The Duchess is also in the midst of a legal battle after suing the Mail on Sunday for breach of privacy after it published part of a letter she sent to her father, Thomas Markle.

Extracts of Finding Freedom, by royal reporters Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, published in recent weeks have detailed how the Sussexes felt cast adrift by members of the Royal Family.

The book is described as an unauthorised biography to which the couple insist they did not contribute. However, it is brimming with intimate details about their personal lives and thoughts as they made the decision to step back from their roles as senior members of the Royal Family and quit the UK.

From what they drank on their first date in Soho to claims that the Duchess was scolded by a palace aide for wearing a necklace bearing their initials in the early days of their relationship, the book lifts the lid on their experiences over the last two years.

It outlines the couple's frustrations with the inner workings of The Firm, suggesting they felt undervalued and unprotected by the palace.