Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, turned 45 on August 4, celebrating quietly at home in Montecito, California, with Prince Harry and their two children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5.
The low-key birthday capped a summer that was anything but quiet professionally. Meghan's guest-judging turn on MasterChef Australia drew the show's highest-ever ratings, a notable data point for a media career that has increasingly leaned into television and lifestyle projects since she and Harry stepped back from royal duties.
A busy few weeks before the birthday
Just days before turning 45, Meghan was seen in Los Angeles at a screening of Cookie Queens, a new documentary, fresh off a family holiday that took the Sussexes through the UK and Portugal. The overlap of travel, a public screening, and a ratings milestone made for one of Meghan's more visible summer stretches in recent memory.
Keeping the day itself private
Unlike some past birthdays, which have come with public statements or social posts, this year's celebration was kept firmly inside the family's Montecito home — consistent with how the Sussexes have handled most personal milestones since relocating to California in 2020.