Prince Harry 'called off' special birthday event last-minute as he felt it would be 'wrong' to Kate Middleton to go ahead
The Duke of Sussex is turning 42 but for his milestone 30th birthday a big dinner party was apparently planned - and postponed
Prince Harry once famously described the Princess of Wales as the sister he never had "and always wanted" - and he wasn't about to let his birthday party go ahead without her. According to reports, the Duke of Sussex's 30th birthday celebrations in 2014 were supposed to involve a Kensington Palace dinner attended by close family and friends.
Prince William and Kate apparently played a big role in organising Harry's special event but he's said to have called it off at the last minute. The Princess was pregnant with Princess Charlotte and the Palace confirmed she was once again suffering from Hyperemesis gravidarum - a severe form of morning sickness.
"Harry was in no doubt that the party should be postponed, even though 30 is an important milestone," a source claimed to The Mirror. "Kate had been very involved in organising Harry's party, and once she fell ill he felt it wrong to let the event go ahead."
Vanity Fair later alleged that the party happened another time, but instead of Kensington Palace, where Harry and the Waleses lived, it was supposedly hosted at Clarence House. The reported postponement of his milestone party shows just how much Prince Harry wanted his sister-in-law to be able to enjoy the occasion she'd helped organise.
Their bond was once incredibly close and even after the Sussexes stepped back as working royals, Kate still thought of Harry when it came to a particular occasion. In December 2022 she became Colonel of the Irish Guards and could wear military uniform or a military-inspired outfit for events like Trooping the Colour.
However, she never has. More than that, author Christopher Andersen claimed in his biography Kate! that she "declined" the suggestion of wearing one when the Irish Guards trooped their colours in 2023.
"'No,' she replied, 'I wouldn't feel right... not if Harry can't do it,'" the author wrote. "Instead, Kate opted for a green outfit, matching broad-brimmed hat, and her signature gold-and-emerald shamrock brooch."
Prince Harry served for ten years in the British Army but lost his military patronages and honorary titles in 2020. Now he's no longer permitted to wear military uniform to big ceremonial events. It says a lot that the Princess of Wales was apparently still making choices with him in mind in 2023, even after the Sussexes' Oprah Winfrey interview and the release of Spare.
However, that's not to say that there's been much noticeable progress in terms of the "reconciliation" Prince Harry is hoping for. He and Prince William are said to have not seen each other face-to-face in several years now and the same for Harry and Kate.
This year the King's younger son will be celebrating his 42nd birthday in the UK on 15th September now he and Meghan have moved. The Prince of Wales will be undertaking engagements in Princetown and although the Princess's plans aren't known, she will no doubt want to be at home to pick up Charlotte and Louis from school.
Prince Harry could just spend the day with Meghan at their new home as the world continues to wait and watch for how things might go for the Sussexes and the Waleses now they're back on the same side of the Atlantic.
