Academy Award-winning actress, Viola Davis, took to Instagram on Sunday to post a birthday message to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s daughter, Princess Lilibet.
Lilibet (nicknamed “Lili” by Harry and Meghan) celebrated her second birthday on June 4, her first using her new “princess” title which became hers upon the accession of her grandfather, King Charles III, to the throne in September 2022.
Davis’ Instagram message came as the royal social media accounts failed to mark Charles’ youngest grandchild’s birthday in any way. This comes in contrast to the way the royal family‘s social media accounts marked the eighth birthday of Prince William and Kate Middleton‘s daughter, Princess Charlotte, just one month earlier.
Reposting a photograph of Charlotte on May 2, the account run on behalf of Charles and Queen Camilla posted a message reading: “Happy Birthday!”
Davis’ comment was posted to a fan-made video of Lilibet using clips taken from the six-part Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan.
Replying to the video posted by the Instagram account, hrhofsussex, Davis wrote: “The sweetest!! Happiest of birthdays.”
Though Davis and the Sussexes haven’t been linked socially since the latter broke from the monarchy in 2020 and moved to the United States, the actress and Meghan have shared connections, even appearing in a TV show scene together in 2004.
Before Meghan met Prince Harry and Davis won her Oscar for her supporting role in the 2016 movie Fences, both appeared in one scene in the American drama series Century City.
In a 2020 interview, Davis heaped praise on the duchess when asked if she would ever consider working with the royal, should the latter decide to make a return to acting in her post-royal life.
“Totally!,” she told Access Hollywood at the time. “Because I love Meghan and Harry. Like, love Meghan and Harry! Obsessed with everything they do.”
She then suggested she’d be willing to do a “Cagney and Lacey” style project in the future.
Meghan has publicly closed the door on any return to acting, telling Variety in 2022 that she intends on focusing on a role behind the camera, having experienced success through her role on the hit legal drama Suits before her marriage.
When asked outright if she could see herself taking up her old career, the duchess explained: “No. I’m done. I guess never say never, but my intention is to absolutely not.”
Since leaving the monarchy in 2020, Meghan and Harry started their own production company, Archewell, and have undertaken projects for streaming giant, Netflix, most notably their eponymous six-part docuseries, which broke streaming records for the platform in December 2022.
Included in the series were self-shot photographs and intimate family videos of life behind the walls of the Sussex family home, including footage of Princess Lilibet as a newborn.
Prince Harry gave a proud assessment of his baby daughter on the show, telling viewers in an interview: “I think at the moment I see a lot of my wife in Archie and I see a lot of my mum in Lili. She’s very Spencer-like. She’s got the same blue eyes and sort of like golden reddish hair.”
After celebrating his youngest child’s birthday at home in California, Harry flew to London where he will take the stand to provide evidence during his court case against a U.K. tabloid publisher he alleges targeted him with unlawful information-gathering techniques.
Newsweek approached representatives for Viola Davis and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle via email for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek’s royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.
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