Prince Harry officially turns 40 on Sunday, with sources close to the duke confirming that he will be celebrating his big day at home in California with his family and friends.

Set to have a big birthday bash to celebrate the milestone, it is likely the Duke of Sussex will also spend some time reflecting on his 40-years of life and his family back in the UK, who he has become more estranged from over recent years.

The duke’s birthday also comes exactly a week after the second anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death, which was marked by the Royal Family privately last Sunday.

The anniversary also acts as a reminder that Prince Harry has not received a public birthday message from the Royal Family since the late Queen’s passing in 2022, with his last bittersweet birthday message from his grandmother being in 2021.

At the time, a message to Prince Harry was shared on the Royal Family’s social media channels. The message read: “Wishing The Duke of Sussex a happy birthday today!”

It was accompanied by pictures of the duke including one of him and his wife Meghan Markle.

The message was considered unusual for the Royal Family as at that moment in time, Prince Harry was no longer a working member of the family.

This meant that technically, Harry’s birthday shouldn’t have been marked with a public message on the family’s social media channels as it was not a milestone birthday.

However, this year, royal fans are waiting to see whether Prince Harry will be wished a happy birthday publicly from his father King Charles.

Although not a working Royal, the late Queen set a social media precedent that if a non-working member of the family was celebrating any birthday where their age ended in an O, like Prince Harry will be this Sunday, this can be publicly acknowledged by the family.

At the moment, it is not clear whether the King will wish his son a happy birthday publicly, however it is believed they will speak privately.

This comes after Harry made a visit to the UK especially to see his father earlier this year following Charles’ cancer diagnosis.