Royal Family wish Meghan a 'very happy birthday' as she turns 39
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Twitter account also posts a message to mark the occasion.
Tuesday 4 August 2020 12:54, UK
The Royal Family have wished the Duchess of Sussex a "very happy birthday" as she turned 39.
A picture of Meghan with the Queen was posted on the monarch's official Twitter account with the words "Wishing The Duchess of Sussex a very happy birthday!".
A similar message appeared on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's account.
The duchess's birthday celebrations follow 12 months that has seen her leave the UK and life as a member of the monarchy with Harry and son Archie, to live in Los Angeles after breaking away from royal duties for personal and financial freedom.
The couple moved to the US with their 14-month-old son just a few weeks before the coronavirus pandemic struck, and have been living under lockdown since.
Birthday celebrations are expected to be low key as the state of California reportedly has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in America.
She and Harry have spoken out on various issues, especially the renewed focus on equality and race that followed the death of George Floyd when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.
As the Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum, Meghan, who was the first mixed-race person to marry a senior royal, gave an impassioned speech to her old high school following the death of Mr Floyd, speaking of her "absolute devastation" at racial divisions.
The issue of racial equality is expected to be a focus of their public work when the couple formally launch their new charitable organisation, Archewell, to replace their UK-based Royal Sussex foundation, which has been wound down.
Meghan is fighting legal actions in the UK and US, suing Mail On Sunday and MailOnline publisher Associated Newspapers after stories published last year featured parts of a handwritten letter she sent to her estranged father.
The Sussexes also began court proceedings in July in LA after drones were allegedly used to take pictures of Archie.
And the duke and duchess have been working behind the scenes to urge top executives across the world to stand in solidarity with groups calling for a Facebook boycott.
They have spoken with a number of organisations to promote the Stop Hate For Profit campaign, which calls on businesses to pause advertising on the platform over the social network's failure to do more to remove hate speech.
A source has said: "As we've been developing Archewell, one of the areas the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been keen to address is online hate speech, and we've been working with civil rights and racial justice groups on it."
Harry and Meghan stopped using their HRH styles and ceased to be senior working royals at the end of March, allowing them to earn money.
The Sussexes wrote to a number of British tabloid newspapers after moving to the US, saying they would no longer co-operate with them after watching people's lives be "pulled apart" because "salacious gossip boosts advertising revenue".
It is not known how the couple will support themselves without the money they would have received as members of the Royal Family, although there has been speculation about book deals and lecture circuit contracts they may have signed.