Skip to content

Entertainment |
Meghan Markle and Barack Obama’s birthdays both…

62°F
Tuesday, April 23rd 2024

Today's e-Edition

Trending:

Things To Do

Entertainment

Entertainment |
Meghan Markle and Barack Obama’s birthdays both celebrated on Twitter

Two of America’s most famous international celebrities were born on the same day, 20 years apart.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has delivered a personal message on the death of George Floyd, describing what is happening in the United States as "absolutely devastating." (Youtube via CNN)
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has delivered a personal message on the death of George Floyd, describing what is happening in the United States as “absolutely devastating.” (Youtube via CNN)
Martha Ross, Features writer for the Bay Area News Group is photographed for a Wordpress profile in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Thursday, July 28, 2016. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)
By | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:

When Meghan Markle was growing up in Los Angeles, a self-styled “California girl,” dreaming of a career as an actress or international humanitarian, she may not have envisioned having her birthday celebrated across social media on the same day as a U.S. president.

But Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, shares a birthday — Aug. 4 — with Barack Obama. People on Twitter were celebrating their birthdays separately with the hashtags #HappyBirthdayMeghan and #HappyBirthdayMrPresident. But in some posts, the two received birthday greetings together.

Meghan turns 39 Tuesday, and Obama turns 59. After Meghan married Prince Harry in 2018, she became an international celebrity, just like Obama, who made history as America’s first Black president. Also like Obama, Meghan has one White parent and one Black parent, which made her the first biracial person known to marry into the British royal family in at least several centuries.

Meghan’s path to international celebrity hasn’t been easy. The former “Suits” actress is back living in Los Angeles with Harry and their son, Archie, after she and Harry stunned the world by announcing that they didn’t want to carry on as full-time royals. They are sheltering in place in a Beverly Hills mansion and plotting their post-royal careers, which is expected to include philanthropic projects through their Archewell Foundation and reportedly working with Barack and Michelle Obama’s agency to land lucrative speaking engagements.

It’s not known if Meghan has ever met Barack or Michelle Obama, but Harry enjoyed a friendly relationship with the couple when Obama was in office and he and the first lady collaborated on organizing the Invictus Games in 2016.

Meanwhile, if there is bad blood between Meghan and her royal in-laws, especially Prince William and Kate Middleton, that wasn’t in evidence Tuesday when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge posted birthday wishes to her on their @KensingtonRoyal social media accounts.

Those wishes momentarily quieted concerns about any hurt or anger the Cambridges might feel over the publication next week of an explosive tell-all that seeks to tell Meghan and Harry’s side in the drama over their departure from the U.K. Excerpts of “Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Royal Family,” which were recently published in the Sunday Times, portray William and Kate as cold and unwelcoming to Meghan.

But Queen Elizabeth said in January that the royal family was “entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family.” She also said her grandson and his wife remain “a valued part of my family.” Those sentiments were echoed in birthday greetings to Meghan coming from the queen’s social media accounts:

Meghan’s father- and stepmother-in-law, Prince Charles and Camilla, also sent their birthday greetings:

More in Entertainment