Everybody wished the Duchess of Sussex a happy birthday on August 4th, including the people at Clarence House, Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace. Meghan did not issue any kind of statement about her birthday, and I wasn’t expecting her to. She and Harry have issued statements here and there, but they don’t have an official Instagram – which must be killing her! – and they seem to be content to let the Finding Freedom excerpts go out there into the world with very little comment. My point is that I doubt Meghan or Harry are briefing anybody on how they celebrated her birthday. And yet…

Home sweet house party! Prince Harry planned a low-key celebration for his wife Meghan Markle’s 39th birthday at their Los Angeles residence, a source exclusively tells Us Weekly. Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, and the couple’s 14-month-old son, Archie, were both in attendance.

“They spent the day as a family and in the evening Doria looked after Archie so that Meghan and Harry could enjoy some couple time,” the insider said of the Tuesday, August 4, festivities. “Harry cooked Meghan a three-course dinner, but Doria helped him with the preparation.” The source adds: “While Harry has become a better cook since marrying Meghan, he still has a long way to go!”

The former military pilot, 35, “organized a huge chocolate birthday cake, covered in icing sugar and balloons” to make sure Meghan’s big day was one to remember.

When it came to her present, Harry went for something both unique and sentimental.

“He wanted the gift to be personal, so he surprised Meghan with a necklace that he designed,” the insider tells Us. “And a framed photograph of the two of them, which he took himself.”

For her part, the California native “wanted to keep it small and intimate” this year, but the source says Meghan plans to throw a “big, glamourous birthday party with all her friends for her 40th next year.”

[From Us Weekly]

If this is true – and who knows – it sounds completely on-brand for them, except maybe the cake. I completely buy the idea that Harry would give Meghan jewelry, that he would design something himself, and that he would give her a framed photo. I completely buy that Doria was there, looking after Archie while Harry and Meghan did something together, just the two of them. And I would believe that Doria cooked while Harry “helped.” But the chocolate birthday cake? That sounds like Harry wanted a chocolate cake and Meghan was like “go wild, babe.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.