Prince William and Princess Kate send Harry heartfelt 40th birthday message

The Prince and Princess of Wales have marked the milestone 40th birthday of Prince Harry with a heartfelt message shared on social media.

It read: "Wishing a Happy 40th Birthday to The Duke of Sussex!"

Earlier today, King Charles also issued a public birthday message to his youngest son from his and Queen Camilla's official X account, accompanied by a smiling photo of a joyous Prince Harry, dressed smartly.

The birthday messages come following a tumultuous few years for the Royal Family, with explosive interviews, TV programmes and a book seemingly drifting Harry further away from his family.

Prince Harry stepped down as a working royal in 2020, and now resides in Montecito with his wife, Meghan Markle, and two young children, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three - who he has labeled as the "best gift" he's ever been given.

Both posts from the King and Queen and the Wales family on social media have received a mixture of responses from the public.

One user wrote: "To all of those criticising Charles for wishing him a Happy Birthday, what do you say now? The Royals have class & it’s a milestone birthday that’s it. Nothing else should be interpreted into that."

Another was surprised by the birthday post from the family and added: "Now this is extremely surprising. Fair play William… fair play."

A royal fan wrote: "He doesn’t deserve your best wishes after everything he’s done to his family the last 5 years or so .. but I get it!!"

Other fans simply sent positive online greetings to the 40-year-old. X user @keerthy_JD wrote: "Happy 40th to The Duke of Sussex! Wishing him a year filled with joy and success."

Despite the birthday message issued by the Prince of Wales, an expert has previously spoken on the possibility of a reconciliation between the two brothers.

Speaking before to Express.co.uk, psychologist Honey Langcaster-James didn't hold out much hope for the pair. She said: "Ordinarily I would say that there is always a way to work things out and repair a rupture, providing that both parties are motivated to do so," she said. "However, in William and Harry’s case, things could well be much more challenging.

"This is because, not only do they have a very fractured personal relationship, there would also be an institutional situation to try to restore given the nature of the Royal Family."

She added: "The sad truth about siblings is, that although in an ideal world we’d like to think blood is thicker than water and that family comes first, siblings do often fall out and sometimes those relationships remain fractured for many years, if not forever."

Harry is expected to spend his birthday day with his immediate family, before hosting a big birthday bash with his closest friends for a boys only trip in America, according to a report by the Sun.