Lilibet received a special birthday gift from King Charles

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales attends the "A Starry Night In The Nilgiri Hills" event hosted by the Elephant Family in partnership with the British Asian Trust at Lancaster House on July 14, 2021 in London, England. The event is the finale of "CoExistence", a campaign by wildlife conservation charity Elephant Family.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 5 June 2024

Princess Lilibet turned 3 years old on 4 June, and her grandpa King Charles made sure to adequately mark the occasion.

Despite the monarch's tense relationship with Lili's parents Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, he "had no intention of completely ignoring Lilibet's birthday so he has sent a gift along with a message," royal expert Tom Quinn told the Mirror.

We don't know what the gift Charles sent Lilibet is, but Tom explained that there's a particularly special present he'd like to give her in the future, on a couple conditions. "He gave Prince George a beautiful hand-made wooden swing with George's name carved on it and he has plans to give something similar to Lilibet but not this year," the expert claimed. "And not unless and until the family feud dies down."

The Royal Family didn't publicly wish little Lili a happy birthday, but this shouldn't be read as a snub — and rather as simple protocol when it's the birthday of a non-working royal's family member. (Harry and Meghan stepped down from their official royal roles in 2020.)

Sadly, the King's and Prince William's relationship with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (and their children by extension) is tense at best these days, with Charles declining to see his youngest son during his brief visit to the UK in May. This, unlike the silence on Lili's birthday, could definitely be read as a snub if you ask certain royal experts.

But far away from the UK in sunny southern California, of course Lilibet enjoyed a birthday party fit for a Princess.

According to a report from People, the Sussexes celebrated their young daughter with a party ahead of her birthday over the weekend, held at their home in Montecito. The outlet reported that (adult) friends and family were in attendance, and that some of Lili's own friends were also there.

Also among the guest list were apparently Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, plus their daughter Daisy, who's a similar age to Lilibet. Harry and Meghan reportedly avoided inviting any royals so as not to cause any additional drama, per the Mirror.

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Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.

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