Beyoncé Celebrated Meghan Markle's 40th Birthday with a Rare Childhood Photo

A birthday wish from Beyoncé on her personal website is like a rite of passage in Hollywood, and Meghan Markle has officially just joined the club. From one royal to another, Queen Bey wished the Duchess of Sussex a happy birthday, and in keeping with tradition, she included a rare throwback photo in her tribute.

On Wednesday — alongside similar shout-outs to former president Barack Obama and actor Michael Ealy — Beyoncé posted a childhood snapshot of Meghan that appears to have been taken from her school's yearbook. In the photo, Meghan is dressed in a blue dress with puff sleeves and a statement collar with yellow piping on one side and red on the other. She wore her hair down and natural, and accessorized with a headband that had a white flower attached to it.

Beyonce Meghan Markle
Beyonce Meghan Markle

beyonce.com

"Happy birthday Meghan Markle," Bey wrote next to the cute image.

Earlier in the day, Meghan celebrated her big 4-0 with a funny video that featured Melissa McCarthy and a hilarious cameo from her husband, Prince Harry. During the clip, Markle and McCarthy discussed how she should spend her milestone birthday, with the actress listing silly ideas until the duchess officially announced the 40x40 initiative.

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Explaining the meaning behind the cause on her and Harry's Archewell Foundation website, Meghan wrote: "In reflecting on my 40th birthday and the many things I am grateful for, I'm struck that TIME IS AMONG OUR GREATEST AND MOST ESSENTIAL GIFTS: Time with our loved ones, time doing the things we love, time spent learning, laughing, growing, and the sacred time we have on this earth. Amongst the most valuable gifts of time is also time spent in service to others knowing that it can contribute to incredible change. To that last point, and with my 40th lap around the sun in mind, it made me wonder: what would happen if we all committed 40 minutes to helping someone else or to mentoring someone in need? And then what would happen if we asked our friends to do the same?"