Meghan Markle was born on Aug. 4 — a date that was already circled on the royal calendar for Prince William.
The Duchess of Sussex turned 42 on Friday and is expected to mark the milestone privately following a date night with Prince Harry in California earlier this week. Before she married Harry in 2018, Aug. 4 was already a significant day in royal history as Prince William’s christening day.
Forty-one years ago in 1982, an infant Prince William Arthur Philip Louis was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace, his royal bio states. The little prince was just six weeks old and the occasion was commemorated with official portraits.
Princess Diana lovingly held her baby son as dad (then known asPrince Charles), grandparents Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother all watched on. The tradition of taking a family portrait after royal christenings continued when Prince Harry was born and baptized in 1984. Decades later, similar shots would be taken when William’s kids with wife Kate Middleton— Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 — were christened.
Before he was christened, Prince William’s baptism day was already marked on the royal calendar for a festive reason — the Queen Mother’s birthday! Queen Elizabeth’s mother was born on Aug. 4, 1900 and died at age 101 in March 2002.
In his memoir Spare, released in January, Prince Harry shared the sweet story of when his father, who is now known as King Charles, realized Meghan was born on the same day as his beloved grandmother.
According to the text, Prince Harry, 38, said the connection came up when he and Meghan visited Charles in Scotland at the Castle of Mey during the summer of 2018.