Prince Archie’s fifth birthday wasn’t publicly marked by the Royal Family for one important reason

Royal fans may have been surprised when the royals failed to publicly send birthday wishes to Prince Archie this week, but there's an important rule that prevents them doing so. 

Prince Archie celebrated his fifth birthday on 6 May, marking the day with, according to reports, a party in the Californian sunshine surrounded by his family, mum Meghan Markle, dad Prince Harry, sister Princess Lilibet and grandmother Doria Ragland. 

But not only were the Royal Family missing from the occasion, they also failed to publicly send him any birthday wishes on social media. Many royal fans thought this was strange as usually Buckingham Palace will share a post to wish royals like Prince William, Kate Middleton and their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis a good day. So why didn't they do the same for little Archie?

Well, according to Hello‘s royal correspondent Danielle Stacey, there is a royal rule preventing them from doing so. “In recent years and certainly since King Charles III’s reign began in September 2022, we have only seen public messages from the royal family’s social media accounts for working members of the royal family, such as the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and the Princess Royal,” she said. So, despite the fact that Archie sits sixth in the royal line of succession, he is not entitled to a public message on his special day. 

However, just because the royals didn't publicly mark the day, that doesn't mean they didn't do so privately. According to royal expert Tom Quinn, it is likely that Archie received an incredibly thoughtful and handmade gift from his grandfather King Charles. 

He told The Mirror, "There has been talk that he will send one of his own watercolour paintings to Archie as a present as Meghan loves homemade gifts and dislikes extravagant expensive presents.

"Charles famously gave Prince George a beautiful hand-made swing engraved on the seat with George’s name, but Prince Harry has told him repeatedly that this sort of present is too grand for Archie."

As well as the thoughtful gift, the expert also believes that Charles will have made sure to call his grandson to wish him happy birthday, though there is one thing he won't be doing to contact the youngster. He said, "King Charles dislikes new technology, but is desperate to keep in touch with his grandchildren on the other side of the Atlantic so he will certainly call Harry and wish Archie Happy Birthday.

"Charles been asking about video calling, but according to his aides, he's uncomfortable with the idea. If he makes an ordinary telephone call to Harry it means he can have a quick word with Archie without the need to talk to Meghan, a prospect that fills him with dread."

In other royal news, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet will likely join Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on their Nigeria trip next month for this poignant reason. And Princess Charlotte’s 9th birthday portrait contained a sweet nod to her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth you might have missed. Plus, Prince George, Charlotte and Prince Louis’ guinea pigs are more than just cute, experts reveal they’re teaching the kids some very important life lessons too.