King Charles and Meghan Markle Once Bonded Over the Date of Her Birth

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Meghan Markle celebrates her 43rd birthday today, August 4!

She's not the only royal woman with an August 4 birthday: Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, also celebrated her birthday on the 4th—and this fact delighted King Charles when he discovered the coincidence during a summer vacation in 2018.

"Towards the end of summer 2018 we went to Scotland, the Castle of Mey, to spend a few days with Pa," Prince Harry writes of the moment in Spare. "The bond between Meg and Pa, always strong, grew even stronger during that weekend. One night, over pre-dinner cocktails, Fred Astaire playing in the background, it emerged that Meg shared a birthdate with Pa’s favorite person: Gan-Gan. August 4. Amazing, Pa said with a smile. At the memory of Gan-Gan, and the link between her and my bride, he suddenly became buoyant, telling stories I’d never heard, essentially performing, showing off for Meg."

Growing up, Charles was close with Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and he inherited her property, the Castle of Mey. Per royal biographer Sally Beddell Smith, "Since her death in 2002, Charles has spent the first week of every August [at the Castle of Mey] honoring her birthday on the 4th and carrying out royal engagements as well as finding solace in personal pursuits." In fact, at the Castle of Mey this weekend before he heads to Balmoral.

One story that Charles reportedly told Meghan that evening in Scotland was about selkies, or Scottish mermaids who take the form of seals. "When you see a seal," Charles told her, "you never can tell…Sing to it. They often sing back." Harry says he replied, "Oh, come on. You’re telling fairytales, Pa!" Charles responded, "No, it’s absolutely true!"

Harry then shared that while staying at the Castle of Mey, the Sussexes went to the beach, and they did indeed see seals. Prince Harry ran to the water, per Charles's instructions, and sang to them. He writes, "Meg joined me, and sang to them, and now of course they sang back. She really is magic, I thought. Even the seals know it." The chapter, however, ends ominously: "It had been such a lovely fairytale, I thought. How did it get so dark so fast?"

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