These are photos from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Ireland tour, back in July 2018. They were newlyweds and already being sent out on royal tours. The palace was amazed that Meghan truly wanted to hit the ground running as a duchess. Harry and Meghan were joined at the hip during this trip, and on Day 2, they made several appearances and did several events. At one point, they visited the DogPatch Labs in Dublin. Why bring any of this up? Because Buckingham Palace chose a photo from the Ireland trip – specifically, the DogPatch visit – to post on their social media for Harry’s 40th birthday:
🎂 Wishing The Duke of Sussex a very happy 40th birthday today! pic.twitter.com/sAlSiV9EaZ
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) September 15, 2024
Now there’s a conversation about whether Buckingham Palace purposefully cropped the photo to edit out Meghan. You can see the original Getty pic at the Independent, and it absolutely looks like someone did crop the photo. BP says it wasn’t them and I’m 50/50 on whether I believe them. Meanwhile, the British media wants to make BP’s social media post into the biggest olive branch ever, practically an entire olive TREE!
A friend of the king’s told The Daily Beast they expected Harry and Charles would speak by phone later in the day. The friend said: “I am sure a call will be scheduled. They spoke on Charles’ birthday. This message is a significant olive branch from the king, and the ball is now in Harry’s court.”
Harry and the king’s relationship has been fraught in recent months, with sources close to Harry telling The Daily Beast that the king stopped taking Harry’s phone calls over the summer. The king is thought to be profoundly irritated by Harry’s ongoing legal action against the British government seeking to get automatic security for him and his family when in the U.K. He was said to have been avoiding speaking or meeting with Harry out of a concern his son could try and lobby him to intervene in the matter, which could trigger constitutional concerns.
“The ball is now in Harry’s court” after the king’s flunkies posted a photo and birthday message on social media. After the king’s flunkies possibly cropped out Harry’s wife from the photo. I mean… I’m sure Charles genuinely believes that this is some kind of legitimate rapprochement, but it is not.
Additionally, BP’s social media post and Kensington Palace’s subsequent quote-tweet has gone down badly in the Deranger community. It’s so bad that even Dan Wootton thought it would be clever to post this comment on KP’s post. Harry never called Kate a bitch…? It’s almost like Wootton was dying to say that about Kate.
Sad that you felt pressured into doing this. Especially after accusing William of being a violent bully and Catherine a bitch in Spare.
— Dan Wootton (@danwootton) September 15, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visit Croke Park, home of the GAA, during their trip to Dublin,Image: 377514715, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Prince Harry,Harry Duke of Sussex, Credit line: – / Wenn / Avalon
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- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visit DogPatch Labs during their tour to Dublin,Image: 377549026, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Prince Harry,Harry Duke of Sussex,Meghan Duchess of Sussex,Meghan Markle, Credit line: – / Wenn / Avalon
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- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visit DogPatch Labs during their tour to Dublin,Image: 377549101, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Prince Harry,Harry Duke of Sussex,Meghan Duchess of Sussex,Meghan Markle, Credit line: – / Wenn / Avalon
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- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visit the Famine Memorial on their tour to Dublin,Image: 377570365, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Prince Harry,Harry Duke of Sussex,Meghan Duchess of Sussex,Meghan Markle, Credit line: – / Wenn / Avalon
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- Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex visit Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland,Image: 515598844, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: James Shaw / Avalon
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- Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex visit to Dublin, Ireland,Image: 515600780, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: James Shaw / Avalon
Thousands of pictures out there of just Harry. The “significant message” isn’t an olive branch, it’s that the chosen pic was one that Meghan was cropped out of.
Was she though? I don’t want to play the devils advocate but this exact picture is available on Alamy. You can check the link if you don’t believe me:
https://www.alamy.com/the-duke-and-duchess-of-sussex-visit-dogpatch-labs-during-their-tour-to-dublin-featuring-prince-harry-harry-duke-of-sussex-where-dublin-united-kingdom-when-11-jul-2018-credit-wenncom-image215169662.html?imageid=CF91EB50-346D-4704-93B4-8F7CF5DB6A39&p=215289&pn=1&searchId=76f67c37531a47b12f859d7b16945ad1&searchtype=0
She was cropped out but not by BP. the photo agencies have the cropped out version as well as the original version.
Still see it as a choice. They knew it was an event Meghan was attending and sitting next to him. For PW’s 40th, BP posted throwback pics and current pics. PH gets one pic and not one of him with Charles, but one that Meghan might have been in, but wasn’t. It’s not an olive branch. It’s an invite to haters to comment how wonderful and forgiving Charles is and how awful that traitor Harry is.
@equality no one here is saying its an olive branch. I said in my comment below that it was a choice.
Yeah they didn’t do it. I wish everyone would move on. The photo they used was what was put out there eons ago. Dan Wooton is a POS.
The picture they posted is not the same picture at the top of the article, In the first photo Harry and Meghan Harry is not smiling at all. The one posted he has a big smile. It’s not unusual to crop a photo if you are specifically wishing that person happy birthday. What should be noted is that they haven’t wished him happy birthday for several years so why now all of a sudden.
I think because it’s a milestone year – 40.
Posting for his bday this year just points out the many years they skipped. Why bother? They could have stuck with the excuse that the official account is only for senior working royals but now they’ve thrown that excuse out the window. Just weird and stupid.
It’s a nice picture and I can see why BP chose it, but the Rota rats are ALWAYS going to bring up Meghan.
I remember something about new protocol that they are only gonna celebrate big birthdays of rf members. It might be just that.
Good point. But it won’t sell advertising space in newspapers so the BM won’t like it. Their problem, perhaps they should go back to covering the real news.
@sevenblue, was that “new” protocol decided upon just AFTER Meghan’s 40th birthday?
How embarrassing for Charles and especially William and Kate. Such a freaking toxic family. In a just world they would finally be exposed for their clear collaboration with the worst of the British press. Unfortunately still waiting..,
lol at Dan’s tweet. Who is gonna pressure KP? They won’t even do their jobs even though getting paid full amount by taxpayers. It is always the same conversation, the staff makes a birthday post, the tabloids write about olive branch. It is groundhog day over there.
Dan just wanted a chance to tell the truth while framing it as if it was a lie, lol
It reminds me of the tabloid article where they wrote down all the mean jokes Sussex Squad said about Will (my fav was how Diana snatched her good genes from Will). The tabloids love to do that when they aren’t allowed to mock the RF themselves.
Dan Rotten lied though.
Harry never called his SIL a bitch. In fact, he was much nicer to her than she deserved, as was Meghan in the Oprah interview.
KuKluxDan is still a vile, misogynistic POS.
@nanea, when I said he wanted to “tell the truth” I meant the truth is that Kate is a “b****”, not that Harry called her that
@ncboudicca
exactly. Dan Wootton was taking advantage of the moment to call Kate a b@tch. Harry didn’t call her one as we all know so that part of his post was a lie but…..he wanted to say that for a reason.
The Independent article also says ‘but it has since emerged the cropped picture of Harry, as well as the full picture featuring his wife, were uploaded by the Press Association to Getty Images on the same day in 2018.’. So maybe they just used the pre-cropped version? It feels like the entire media is making a mountain out of a molehill on this. I’d understand more if they were shoulder to shoulder and you could see part of Meghan when the photo was cropped to specifically exclude her but include all of Harry, but as it stands this feels like a reach if I’m honest.
So how did Press Assocation come by the pictures they uploaded to Getty? Since PA is the UK based news agency, they probably got it from rota photographer. How difficult would it be for photographer to change the focal length to zoom in on Harry from a group shot? This whole story sounds like a distraction from another, more important story – when Harry was cropped out of a family picture at 2014 Invictus Games to send birthday wishes to Willy. Picture of Chuck, Willy and Harry was cropped down to Chuck and Willy only.
How embarrassing for Charles and especially William and Kate. Such a freaking toxic family. In a just world they would finally be exposed for their clear collaboration with the worst of the British press. Unfortunately still waiting
IMHO the primary reason UK has toxic press is because BRFCo needs it to continue. What an idyllic life – keep your richly inherited properties passed tax-free; continue keeping your current income derived from duchy and personal properties, while avoiding public audits or scrutiny and basking in the glow of self-rigged popularity “polls” proving your worth. Of course those polls depend on support from media associates…
I’m surprised DW left a comment like that after his blackmail scandal had him tossed from that right wing platform. Presumably he has blackmail material on W, but he doesn’t seem in a position to be able to use it?
https://bylinetimes.com/2023/10/01/gb-news-axes-dan-wootton-after-fox-storm-and-catfish-scandal-the-full-story/
They are two different pictures, the one with Meghan in, Harry seems to be listening seriously to someone else, in the second he is laughing, a better photo for a birthday greeting, I don’t think that for once that it is a snub. Unless the whole birthday greeting thing is a snub to Kate and William for that awful video. But that doesn’t explain why William did a greeting as well!
No they’re not. The picture used in this post is a different picture from the birthday pic, but if you go to the Independent story linked in this post, you can see the original where Harry is laughing and Meghan is in the pic, but she does look a little blurry, not sure if that’s just my computer.
KP and BP posted the birthday announcement to feed the gutter, rabid, toxic press & sewer Royal Rota rats. Watch them make over 100 articles over a birthday post. These people are absolute losers.
My thoughts exactly. Those Lizard People have a really hard time feigning human.
Just BP and KP being their petty selfs. Hopefully this once again shows Harry that they are awful to his wife.
Anyway in regards to birthday posts at one point I got emotional from all the charities and patronages congratulating Harry and explaining what he did/meant to them.
Invictus Games, Sentebale, WellChild, Scotty’s Little Soldiers but alo the Trever Project on how important it was that Harry took an AIDS test and continued his mothers work etc etc. He’s a great example of using your platform for good. In or away from the BRF.
They made me emotional too, they were so personal and heartfelt. Nothing about them showed anything other than organizations really thankful that Harry is alive and using his incredible platform to help people.
I imagine William cracked a tooth clenching his jaw so hard when he saw those.
The Independent article says that the cropped version was also uploaded to Getty, so its completely plausible that BP did not crop out Meghan and just chose a picture without Meghan in it. My guess is that some staffer searched through the archives for a smiling picture of Harry without Meghan – so while she wasn’t cropped out, looking for a picture without her was a choice by BP.
I honestly think that posting a picture for Harry’s bday highlights how much they ignored Meghan’s 40th and puts more pressure on them to recognize other royal’s “milestone” bdays – like Beatrice’s “upcoming” 40th (well upcoming in 4 years lol.)
We know BP made a choice here to post for Harry’s bday. Trying to make it seem like the ongoing rift is all Harry’s fault? Trying to do the bare minimum and get credit for it?
Either way i think KP was clearly told to post something as well so they absolutely did the bare minimum and reposted BP’s post lol.
This is a good point. They ignored Meghan’s 40th. Harry, as a Virgo, will not have forgotten that slight. Until they give Meghan respect, it’s all just for show.
At this point to me it does not matter which photo cropped or not they used. Everything both palaces does is for self preservation. Both houses know Harry is admired globally and they were more concerned for their image than Harry’s birthday.
💯💯
They leave comments open on it so their bots can push the narrative that they are “the bigger people” and how awful PH is.
It’s also just funny bc at this point it doesn’t really matter whether the cropped pic was meant as a snub or not bc the public truly believes it COULD have been a snub. They absolutely believe the family capable of such a thing. We’ve all watched them not let Harry wear a uniform, placed him behind a huge hat at a coronation, and then giggled about it while briefing the press. The point is absolutely no one would be surprised if it was meant as a snub. I think it’s very possible Charles did not want this to look like a snub but he’s also the man that evicted Harry and his family from FC. So who’s going to believe him?
This!
100%
You can find the photo on Getty so BP didn’t crop it. I think the better question should have been why they didn’t use photo of him when he actually alone? It just shows that the posting of the birthday message was performative because no thought was put into its presentation. I also think the press may be upset with the Palace for posting the message and to get back at them the press made up this story. And yes Wootton took the opportunity to call Kate a bitch.
It sounds like the movie mommie dearest where after each of her divorces joan Crawford would crop photos of her exes from all her photographs. The way the royals carry on like William I would not be surprised if they did that
I reckon we will soon see Royal olive oil for sale at BP with all these branches being offered if nothing else comes of it
LOL!
Returning Frogmore Cottage to them, and approving their security, would be an olive branch.
I think this is much ado about nothing. It’s his birthday, the photo of just him is perfectly appropriate, and they photo they used is a reasonable crop – there’s not an awkward “Meghan’s shoulder in the corner” factor.
I mean, KP is not above petty, but I don’t think this particular photo qualifies.
Same. It’s his birthday, not hers. I find it hard to believe Meghan herself even cares about this. If there is something weird/petty here it is them publicly wishing Harry a happy birthday but specifically ignoring hers- now *that* I can believe was calculated.
I don’t care either way. The sudden post of a happy birthday to a family member that they have avoided celebrating for the past few years along with his wife and two children who all just recently had their own birthdays, is what is cruel and calculated. This birthday shoutout was just a distraction from the cringeworthy commercial that Kate put out when she should have been more embarrassed empathetic to other cancer patients. This was a coverup for the backlash they were getting and it’s not working.
Agreed, they would have posted nothing if they hadn’t desperately needed yet another distraction.
Once KC is gone, maybe wait a year or not–up to you two Sussexes, release the Kraken. All the horrid BS. All the skeletons. Absolutely all of it. Then dust yourselves off and live your best lives. You don’t even have to publish. Have a huge bonfire & make s’mores on your property. No one needs to know. Release all the toxic bilge once and for all & leave the rest of them to wallow in their own bitter juices.
Best wishes to the 4 of you!