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NEED TO KNOW
- Meghan Markle’s birthday falls on Aug. 4, a date that holds significance for multiple members of the royal family
- The date also holds importance for Prince William and the late Queen Mother
- In his memoir, Spare, Prince Harry wrote about the moment King Charles realized Meghan shared a birthday bond with his beloved “Gan-Gan”
Meghan Markle’s birthday is a big day on the royal calendar for a variety of reasons.
The Duchess of Sussex, who turned 45 on Tuesday, Aug. 4, shares the birthday with the late Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who was born on Aug. 4, 1900, and lived to be 101.
In his 2023 memoir, Spare, Meghan’s husband, Prince Harry, recalled the moment that his father, King Charles, realized that his new daughter-in-law was born on the same day as his beloved grandmother. The connection came up just a few months after Harry and Meghan’s May 2018 wedding, when they were visiting Charles at the Castle of Mey in Scotland.
“The bond between Meg and Pa, always strong, grew even stronger during that weekend. One night, over pre-dinner cocktails, Fred Astaire playing in the background, it emerged that Meg shared a birthdate with Pa’s favorite person: Gan-Gan,” Harry wrote. “ ’Amazing,’ Pa said with a smile.”
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Royal historian Gareth Russell spoke with PEOPLE about the King’s connection with his grandmother in 2022.
“In some ways, the Queen Mother was a mother figure to Charles just because the Queen became Queen when Charles was so young. There were a lot of tours of the Commonwealth and every time the Queen had to go away, Prince Charles stayed with the Queen Mother,” Russell noted. “They had a great sense of humor, and she always encouraged him.”
In his book, Harry went on to share how Meghan’s connection to the “Queen Mum” sparked unexpected delight in his father.
“At the memory of Gan-Gan, and the link between her and my bride, he suddenly became buoyant, telling stories I’d never heard, essentially performing, showing off for her,” the prince wrote.
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On Aug. 4, 1982, the Queen Mother’s birthday marked another happy occasion in the royal family: the christening of Prince William.
Having been born just six weeks prior, on June 21, the infant heir was christened Prince William Arthur Philip Louis by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace.
The family marked the occasion with a portrait: Princess Diana lovingly held her baby son as Charles, the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip all looked on proudly.
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This year, another royal milestone was almost added to Aug. 4.
Princess Eugenie, 36, and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, 40, welcomed their third child on Monday, Aug. 3. The baby girl joins big brothers August Philip Hawke, 5, and Ernest George Ronnie, 3.
The British royal family’s official social media pages announced the news on Aug. 4, sharing a photo of the little girl.
The official announcement read, “Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie and Mr. Jack Brooksbank are delighted to announce the safe arrival of their daughter, born on Monday, 3rd August 2026, at 6:20 pm, at a hospital in Lisbon, Portugal. The baby was born weighing 6 pounds 9 ounces.”
“Their Majesties The King and Queen and other members of The Royal Family were delighted to be informed of the news,” the statement continued.