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How Meghan Markle will be spending her first birthday as a royal proves what a good wife she is

Meghan reveals her birthday plans, and they're not what we expected.

30 July 2018

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It’s been a whirlwind year for Meghan Markle and August marks another milestone as she gears up to spend her first birthday as the Duchess of Sussex.

How do you spend your first birthday as a royal? With Prince George spending his 5th birthday on a private Caribbean island, the bar for decadent celebrations has been set pretty high. After marking her 36th birthday with Harry on a romantic getaway in Africa, we wondered if this year there'd be another exotic getaway on the cards to mark the Duchess' first royal birthday. But forget lavish parties and far-flung vacations, this year Meghan will be stepping out of the limelight and spending her 37th birthday ... at a wedding.

Proving once again that she’s a thoroughly committed partner and all-round solid gold wife material, Meghan will be eschewing a raucous weekend of celebrations and instead will be accompanying Harry to the wedding of his childhood friends, Charlie Van Straubenzee and Daisy Jenks.

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One of Harry’s oldest friends, Charlie and Harry go all the way back to their school days at Ludgrove Prep School. You might have even spied Charlie at Harry and Meghan’s wedding, where he and his older brother, Thomas Van Straubenzee, served as ushers in their wedding party. Now it’s Harry’s turn to return the favor, serving as Charlie’s best man, while Meghan attends as his plus one.

No stranger to a school reunion wedding, in 2017, Meghan accompanied Harry to the wedding in Jamaica for one of his school friends from Eton. Since then the pair have gone from dating to married, proving that nothing brings a couple together like watching your other half sing along to Puppy Love at a wedding disco.

While some birthday divas might be reluctant to hand over their birthday crown, we’re sure that laidback Meghan will love spending her birthday with Harry and their closest friends. Save us a seat, Meghan, Harry’s best man speech is something we definitely don’t want to miss!

Scroll down to enjoy Prince Harry and Meghan's cutest moments...

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If we were going to be trapped in the rain with someone, we'd want it to be Prince Harry, too. No wonder Meghan looks so damn delighted.
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Ever since their wedding, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been giving us major couple goals. And now, we've found out Meghan's pet name for her husband - and it's a cute one. The couple were at Hamilton and posed for a photo with the cast, where Meghan was heard saying to Harry, "Can you see, my love?". How cute!
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Talk about the honeymoon period! Meghan and Harry had no qualms about indulging in a full-blown smooch when Harry took his trophy at the polo in 2018. While we rarely see William and Kate locking lips, we're glad to see that this pair aren't afraid of a PDA.
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The couple made an appearance on the balcony at the Trooping of The Colour in 2018 and, naturally, Meghan looked incredible. A lipreader revealed to MirrorOnline (via The Sun) that Harry reassured Meghan as they waited for the fly-past by the RAF's Red Arrows - and what he apparently said is so.damn.cute. Prince Harry apparently asked her: "Okay?", to which she apparently replied, "Yeah, are you?", before admitting she was "nervous!". The lipreader believes that Prince Harry then explained to his wife: "Then there's the fly-past and then we all look up to the sky." What a man!

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Harry and Meghan looked cute as ever as they arrived in Brixton to visit Reprezent radio.
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The couple were snapped kissing after watching a polo match at Coworth Park in May 2018. Cue an internet meltdown.
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They made their first official appearance together in September 2017 at the Invictus Games in Toronto. Meghan looked gorgeous dressed down in a shirt and ripped jeans, and the pair couldn't keep their eyes off each other. That month the actress also spoke publicly about their relationship for the first time, telling Vanity Fair: "We're two people who are really happy and in love".
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They're not shy of PDA and at the same event they broke royal protocol by holding hands in public 😍

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Could they be any more adorable? The pair were spotted looking close backstage at the Invictus Games in 2017.
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They announced their engagement with beaming smiles on November 27 2017 at Kensington Palace Gardens.
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As they showed off the ring, Harry said he knew Meghan was the one from the first day they met.
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Later that day, the couple had their first TV interview in a BBC special. They revealed they were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend and said Harry proposed in their London cottage. It got quite emotional when the prince spoke of his late mother, Princess Diana, saying he believed she and Meghan would have been "best friends".

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Their official engagement photos have us swooning! They were taken by fashion photographer Alexi Lubomirski at Frogmore House, Windsor
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Alex Lubomirski said: "It was an incredible honour to be asked to document this wonderful event, but also a great privilege to be invited to share and be a witness to this young couple's love for one another."