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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sophie Goodall & Antony Thrower

Queen's bittersweet final birthday message to Prince Harry revealed as he turns 38

The Duke of Sussex today celebrates turning 38 a week after losing his beloved grandmother, who gave him one last heartfelt birthday message.

Prince Harry is still in the UK as he and his wife Meghan Markle prepare for the Queen’s funeral next Monday with the rest of the Royal Family.

The family's social media accounts uploaded four pictures of Harry on his birthday, including one with Meghan in Australia in 2018 and another of the Duke with schoolchildren in Botswana, the Daily Star reports.

The Queen's final birthday message to Prince Harry read: "Wishing The Duke of Sussex a happy birthday today!"

The Queen's last birthday message to her grandson, the Duke of Sussex, was short and poignant (Getty Images)

Yesterday the prince joined his brother William - the new Prince of Wales - and their father King Charles III leading the procession behind the Queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster.

During the service, members of the Royal Family stood in formation facing the coffin on its purple-covered catafalque.

As it continued an emotional Prince Harry appeared to lose his composure as he was seen wiping tears from his eyes.

Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex's daughter, Lady Louise Windsor, was seen wiping away tears during the service, as was Princess Eugenie of York.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at yesterday's service (Getty Images)

Once the moving service was over and the Queen's relatives left the hall, the Sussexes were one of the few royal couples to hold hands with a tight grip after both had bowed and curtsied to the coffin.

According to body language expert Judi James, their hand holding gesture was needed.

She said: "Inside the service the wives joined their husbands, but again the large spatial distances looked deliberate to create an air of formality.

Prince Harry wipes away a tear at the Westminster service (Getty Images)

"As they couples filed out they seemed to keep to this formation apart from Harry and Meghan, who moved closer and stretched their arms across the gap to hold hands in a mutual re-linking gesture.

"They used their clasped hands as a method of offering support, comfort and reassurance to each other and, walking behind William and Kate and presumably on the brink of a moment when chat might be near, the re-coupling appeared to be desperately important to them."

The two brothers during the service in Westminster Hall (REUTERS)

After the Queen’s death, the Duke of Sussex said : "In celebrating the life of my grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen—and in mourning her loss—we are all reminded of the guiding compass she was to so many in her commitment to service and duty.

“Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings—from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren.”

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