Royals ‘snub’ Harry’s birthday: Prince celebrates his 39th with his Invictus Games

The schism between Prince Harry and the rest of the Royal Family was laid bare today after the Palace appeared to snub the Duke of Sussex’s birthday celebrations by failing to publicly acknowledge his 39th. 

As athletes at the Invictus Games in Germany serenaded the prince with renditions of ‘Happy Birthday’ and inundated him with gifts – good wishes were notably absent from the monarchy’s official social media accounts. 

The palace’s official social media accounts instead spent all day posting about King Charles, Prince William, Princess Kate, and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh – without mentioning Prince Harry once. 

The Mail also understands that Harry, accompanied by his wife, Meghan, will fly back to the US this weekend without seeing his estranged family.

King Charles will be in Scotland and there are no plans for the couple to join him. Prince William hasn’t spoken to his estranged brother for many months.

The Duke of Sussex also failed to visit his family during his stop-over in the UK en route to the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, when he stayed overnight in Britain to attend a charity event.

The following morning Prince harry visited Queen Elizabeth’s grave at Windsor alone on the first anniversary of his grandmother’s death.

Buckingham Palace has indicated that the Royal Family now only sends public birthday wishes to those who are senior working members. 

The Duke of Sussex‘s birthday celebration came as he attended the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, where he watched a sitting volleyball match after a night of revelry drinking German beers and eating traditional food such as sausages, schnitzel and pork knuckle. 

Despite the late night out, the birthday boy looked fresh-faced as he arrived at the Merkur Spiel-Arena.

After Harry and Meghan took their seats in the stands, the stadium announcer asked the crowd: ‘Is there anybody here celebrating their own special occasion today? Anyone’s birthday? Oh I think it is someone’s birthday. A certain Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, 39 today. Happy birthday! Let’s sing along.’ 

The crowd then joined in as Harry clapped along and smiled next to the duchess – before he mouthed ‘thank you’ to the spectators.

Harry was later presented with a birthday cake by the Mayor of Dusseldorf, Dr Stephen Keller. The cake was in the colours of the Invictus Games with the words: ‘Happy Birthday Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex.’

Prince Harry washed down bratwurst sausages and wiener schnitzel with six beers but his wife stuck to one small lager at restaurant Im Goldenen Kessel last night. 

Harry famously went teetotal and abandoned caffeine when Meghan was pregnant with Archie, dumping beer, tea and coffee for green juices. In 2018 he raised a glass of water while everyone else was drinking champagne in solidarity with his wife. He also quit smoking. But based on last night he is firmly back on the booze. 

Meghan was on the march today as she took part in a medal ceremony.

She was perfectly in step with a military officer as she walked to the presentation ceremony in front of a cheering crowd.

A large crowd cheered as she took each step perfectly in time and level with the officer.

Prince Harry also took part in a ceremony and showed he had not forgotten how to march in step.

As he came to a halt, he did a smart parade ground turn and stamped his feet – showing he had not forgotten his training at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.

In blazing sunshine Meghan walked perfectly in step with a Naval officer holding the three medals to be presented for cycling event.

She gave a broad smile as she walked slowly making sure to stay in step with the practised military officer.

Harry followed minutes later and looked comfortable marching along and was full of smiles.

He presented the gold medal for a time trial event to Dave Jarvis from Team UK. He was draped in a Scottish flag partly covering his kilt.

Harry noticed Jarvis’s wife Stephanie weeping with emotion at the side of track with her daughter Sophia.

He attempted to pull the metal safety barrier aside and when that did not work leant over and lifted the four-year-old over and handed her to her father.

As the family hugged, Harry picked up the blue and white Saltire and draped it round the family.

Stephanie revealed she shared the same birthday with Prince Harry and was presented with a necklace by her husband.

Stephanie, from the North East of Scotland, said:’ This is very emotional for us.’

Meghan presented the gold medal to James Rogers, the captain of Team UK.

He was wildly cheered by the large British contingent in the crowd who shouted out: ‘Well done, skipper.’

Meghan and Harry continued to be treated as rock stars as they went on a brief walkabout.

One man called Harry over to have his photo taken, but then shouted out for Meghan.

She obliged and Harry even took off his sunglasses as the pair continued their charm offensive.

Harry, accompanied by Meghan and a dozen of his support team, last night made a secret visit to a popular restaurant in the old town of Dusseldorf.

The Duke, who is 39 today, sank six glasses of the Alt Schumacher beer as he celebrated not only his birthday but the success so far of the Invictus Games. 

His party dined on local delicacies such as Wiener Schnitzel, sausage and pork knuckle.

Harry was also presented with white chocolate which he took back to his hotel and shared with his team. Meghan had only sipped a single beer during the evening.

For her latest appearance today, Meghan wore a Zara jumpsuit Celine Blazer and Saint Laurent Sandals and had a purse from the Cesta range made in Rwanda .

The couple watched a sitting volleyball match between hosts Germany and Poland.

The Polish team mobbed Harry after the game and sang happy birthday again.

With Meghan he posed for numerous selfies before leaving where they were greeted with screams of ‘We love you, Meghan’ from a group of excited teenagers.

The group had rushed down from the stands to try to get close to the Duchess as she left.

Lina Dettling, 15, said: ‘We love Meghan. She is so pretty and we just wanted to see her.’

Kerlos Yosif, 15, added: ‘We are excited to see Harry and Meghan. To us they are like popstars . They do so much good.’

The teenagers were among hundreds of students given the day off from school to attend the games.

Later, Harry and Meghan hitched a ride on a golf buggy to take them to the road cycling event.

Last night, Harry partied with Meghan in a traditional German bar in Dusseldorf with friends where he washed down bratwurst sausage and wiener schnitzel with six beers.

Bar staff said the royals were ‘lovely’ and left a ‘big tip’ as they enjoyed plates piled high with red cabbage and mashed potato. While Harry celebrated with six half-pints, his wife stuck to just one small drink.

Diners at the Im Goldenen Kessel restaurant and bar were asked not to take pictures but said they saw the prince laughing and joking as the food arrived at his table. He also looked thrilled when a birthday cake arrived at the end of the meal.

He and Meghan posed for photographs with the owner of the restaurant Thea Ungermann and head waiter Frank Wackers who has worked at the restaurant for 38 years.

Ms Ungermann told MailOnline: ‘Harry was a lovely man and was having a very jolly time. Meghan was lovely.’

Meghan stuck with the white skinny jeans she wore to watch the volleyball match yesterday. She paired it with a red and white pinstriped shirt and nude ballet pumps. Meanwhile Harry wore dark jeans and a grey top.

During his meal, Harry was presented with a birthday cake by staff at the restaurant, based in Dusseldorf’s old town.

He and his party took up two tables at the restaurant, which is part of the Schumacher brewery, and were served their food and beer by Mr Wackers.

Mr Wackers told MailOnline that Harry had six small beers – about half a pint rather than the litre-sized beers most German breweries serve.

He said the group were served Wiener Schnitzel, pork knuckle, sausage and plates of roast and mashed potato.

Mr Wackers said: ‘They were very happy. He is a lovely man, and they were so nice.’

He also joked that Harry’s bodyguard asked what was the beer like. ‘He said that he would kill me if the beer was bad, but I know he was joking.’

Aides and staff sang Happy Birthday as the restaurant presented Harry with a white chocolate cake.

After tucking in, the party then walked back to their waiting cars in the cobbled Altstadt area of the city.

A source close to the prince said: ‘They drank local beer and ate family style dishes to experience a true German meal. Everyone was incredibly friendly, especially the waiters pictured in the photograph online.

‘They did not dine in a private space and were in joyful spirits, toasting and laughing with the team.

After dinner, the group headed back to the hotel to sing Happy Birthday and eat cake just shy of midnight.’

The owner of the restaurant said Harry picked up the bill and left a big tip for the staff.

The restaurant is attached to the Schumacher brewery, one of two popular venues in Dusseldorf.

Both Ms Ungermann and the head waiter speak fluent English so were able to take Harry and Meghan’s orders without needing to translate them into German.

Harry and his party had driven from their hotel in the Media Harbour of the city and were dropped off by a pedestrian area.

They walked the 50 yards to the restaurant past other bars before occupying two tables in a raised section of the restaurant which is next door to a McDonalds.

The party drank the locally brewed beer called Alt Schumacher which is also served at the Merkur Spiel-Arena where the Invictus Games are held.

Ms Ungermann said: ‘The couple were very relaxed, they drank our beer, Schumacher Alt – it’s the same beer they are serving at the Invictus Games.

‘Harry and Meghan sat next to each other during the meal. I had goosebumps when they walked into the restaurant, I had watched his speech on the stage at the Invictus Games and couldn’t believe he was in my restaurant. Prince Harry was so lovely and gave me a hug.’

The restaurant posted the group photo of Harry and Meghan with staff on their social media.

Harry is thought to have had an early 39th party because he will be busy with events at the games today.