Queen, Kate Middleton and Prince William wish Prince Harry a ‘very happy’ 36th birthday on Twitter after turbulent year

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THE Queen today wished the Duke of Sussex a “very happy birthday” as her grandson turned 36.

The Duke of Sussex will ring in the big day in Los Angeles after a whirlwind 12 months that has seen his life transformed.

Harry is now living in California with wife Meghan and son Archie after they made the sunshine state their home just before the coronavirus lockdown began in March.

And the Royal Family tweeted this morning, writing: “Wishing The Duke of Sussex a very happy birthday!”

The Cambridges then tweeted a photo of Harry racing William and Kate with the message: “Wishing a very happy birthday to Prince Harry today”.

It was accompanied by a picture of the Queen and Prince Harry taken during a Queen’s Young Leaders reception at Buckingham Palace in 2017.

Harry and Meghan are likely to celebrate the duke’s birthday – September 15 – privately at their Santa Barbara home as prevalent Covid-19 cases have forced many bars to shut and restaurants to close their indoor spaces in the coastal city.

The celebrity hotspot – where the couple recently bought an £11 million property – has also experienced the after-effects of California’s wildfires with falling ash and red skies reported by residents in recent days.

Harry and Meghan’s new life in America is progressing fast and the couple announced at the start of September they had signed a deal with Netflix to create films and programmes – estimated by an industry expert to be worth more than 250 million dollars (£190 million).

The couple stepped down as working royals in March for financial and personal freedom and the lucrative contract has enabled them to pay back the £2.4 million of taxpayers’ money used to renovate Frogmore Cottage, their UK home in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

A source has said they are no longer receiving financial support from the Prince of Wales and viewed the £2.4 million payment as “another significant step in their new life”.

The couple previously took over funding for their own security when they quit as senior working royals.

Harry and Meghan have spent much of the lockdown supporting local charities in California or championing causes like gender politics and equality.

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, the couple have spoken to young Commonwealth leaders and Harry raised the colonial background of the Commonwealth: “When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past.

“So many people have done such an incredible job of acknowledging the past and trying to right those wrongs, but I think we all acknowledge there is so much more still to do.”

The duke and duchess were recently pictured at a preschool learning centre in Los Angeles helping youngsters replant their garden as they marked the 23rd anniversary of Diana, Princess of Wales’s death.