The Prince of Wales celebrated a momentous occasion on Wednesday, marking his 41st birthday in style.
Westminster Abbey, the iconic venue where Prince William and Kate Middleton exchanged vows in 2011, chimed its bells in a special tribute to William’s birthday, a tradition not seen since 2019.
Despite the significance of the day, notable absentees from the celebrations were Meghan and Harry, who did not receive invitations to either of the two royal events hosted by the Prince.
Instead, William chose to commemorate his birthday with longstanding friends and godparents to his children, Prince George and Prince Louis.
Laura Mead and Amelia Jardine Paterson were among the guests invited to Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor Estate for a pre-birthday celebration.
Notably, these individuals, along with others like Harry Aubrey Fletcher, Thomas von Straubenze, Guy Pelly, Christopher, and Edmund Cohen, had previously declined to testify on Harry’s behalf in a recent London trial.
Following the initial celebrations, William and his family enjoyed a more intimate gathering at Kensington Palace with their children.
The Abbey shared a video of the bell-ringing ceremony on its official Twitter account, extending warm birthday wishes to His Royal Highness, Prince William.
The bells rang out in a sequence of 541 changes of Stedman caters, followed by a course of London’s Prize Royal in Celebration, a touching gesture reinstated after a hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Westminster Abbey’s bell-ringing schedule for 2022 confirmed a change in tradition, designating the honor solely for the Queen and Prince Charles.
However, with the passing of Her Majesty in 2022, the tradition was expanded to include Prince William, Duchess Kate, and Queen Camilla.
The updated schedule reveals plans to continue this tradition for upcoming royal birthdays, with Queen Camilla’s 76th birthday on July 17th and King Charles’s 75th birthday on November 14th being the next occasions to be honored.
While William celebrated his birthday privately with close friends and family, public tributes poured in online from members of the royal family.
The King’s official Instagram account shared a heartwarming photo of William and Charles sharing a father-son moment during preparations for the King’s coronation ceremony earlier in the year.
The caption extended warm birthday wishes to the Prince of Wales, highlighting the special bond between father and son.
Meanwhile, across the pond, Princess Lilibet’s second birthday went unnoticed by the British royal family, sparking fervent reactions from Sussex supporters.
The young princess, seventh in line to the throne, reportedly enjoyed an all-American celebration at her parents’ residence in California.
However, the lack of acknowledgment from King Charles, Prince William, and Duchess Kate on social media left fans disappointed, as sweet sentiments were notably absent on their accounts.