It is understood that Buckingham Palace did not crop the Duchess of Sussex out of a photograph

King Charles and Queen Camilla have been defended after being dragged into a Meghan Markle photo-cropping row.

It is understood that Buckingham Palace did not crop the Duchess of Sussex out of a photograph it used in a social media post to mark Prince Harry’s 40th birthday.

Eyebrows were raised when the duchess appeared to have been removed from the picture, taken in 2018 when the couple were working royals.

The image, taken by photographer Jimmy Rainford, showed Harry visiting the Dogpatch Labs start-up in Dublin with Meghan beside him.

It was posted by King Charles and Queen Camilla’s social media account on Sunday, with the caption: “Wishing The Duke of Sussex a very happy 40th birthday today!”

Prince William and Princess Kate then re-shared the post with the picture, adding their own message: “Wishing a Happy 40th Birthday to The Duke of Sussex!”

Some saw the post as a surprise given the ongoing tensions between Prince Harry and Prince William.

The plot thickened when it was claimed Meghan had been cropped out of the photograph.

However, image archives have since revealed two versions of the photo were issued at the time in 2018, one with Harry, Meghan and four other people in a discussion, and another solo picture with just Harry.

Harry performed the same pose in both photos, suggesting he was cropped out into a single image by the original photographer at the time.

According to claims in The Daily Mail, the photo was provided to Buckingham Palace in this unedited format by the Press Association and was then published without cropping Meghan.

Harry, who lives in California after stepping down as a working royal, spent his birthday on Sunday with Meghan and their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

He is then said to be heading away for a gathering with close friends.

Harry also celebrated his birthday weekend by attending a charity tennis tournament on Saturday in honour of one of Meghan’s closest friends.

The duke and duchess appeared at the George Zajfen Tennis Tournament in Los Angeles in honour of Kelly McKee Zajfen’s late son George.

The Sussexes were additionally photographed attending Tyler Perry’s 55th birthday bash on Saturday evening.