Meghan Markle has landed in hot water over her Instagram tribute to Prince Harry on his 41st birthday, despite it being posted weeks ago.
On September 15, the Duchess of Sussex posted a photo of Harry taken in 2015 during an RAF parade at Goodwood Aerodrome.
“Oh hi birthday boy,” Meghan captioned the post with a fire emoji.
Now, almost three months after Meghan dropped the tribute, the post has attracted attention because the image also includes links to Harry’s ex-girlfriend, Cressida Bonas.
“It feels strange to use an old photo of your partner when there are so many recent memories,” writes one social media user. OK! Magazine.
“The emoji is going off the charts for a photo from before they even knew each other,” said another, while a third added: “It’s bizarre that she would choose an image linked to Harry’s ex.”
The photo was taken in 2015, shortly after Harry returned from conservation work in Africa, at a Goodwood event marking the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
That same evening, he spent time in London with his then-girlfriend Cressida Bonas, who later married real estate agent Harry Wentworth-Stanley in 2020.
A source said that the post was supposed to be ‘playful’, but it received backlash.
“Meghan clearly wants to express her affection for Harry, but using such an old photo with the fire emoji makes it feel a bit too calculated and exaggerated,” they said.
“And the use of an image linked to Cressida smacks of some sort of criticism of his ex. It’s bizarre that she didn’t use a more contemporary image – she must have had thousands.”
