King Charles’ SWEET Future Wish for Princess Catherine’s 42nd Birthday 🎁🎂

The Princess of Wales is marking her 42nd birthday privately

Kate Middleton’s 42nd birthday is here!

The Princess of Wales, who is spending the day privately, received a special birthday message from King Charles and Queen Camilla on Monday. The British royal family’s official X/Twitter page posted a sweet tribute featuring a photo of Princess Kate.

Taken by Chris Jackson of Getty Images, the picture shows Kate with King Charles in a behind-the-scenes moment at last year’s coronation. The image, which also shows Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, appears to have been taken at Buckingham Palace following the crowning ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

King Charles wears the Imperial State Crown, while Princess Kate sports a bespoke Jess Collett x Alexander McQueen headpiece with her Royal Victorian Order robe.

The birthday post came with a simple message: “Wishing The Princess of Wales a very happy birthday today!”

Wishing The Princess of Wales a very happy birthday today! 🎈🎊

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📷 @ChrisJack_Getty pic.twitter.com/NhkHYdTFIf

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) January 9, 2024

Last year, King Charles, 75, and Queen Camilla, 76, celebrated Princess Kate by wishing her a happy birthday on social media with another thoughtful photo choice. They picked an image of Kate during her first visit to Wales with Prince William after they were named the Prince and Princess of Wales in 2022. In the snap, Kate smiled as she accepted a bouquet from 2-year-old Charlotte Bunting, who wore a traditional Welsh costume.

Princess Kate also received well-wishes from military groups and charities of which she serves as a patron.

Westminster Abbey in London (where Princess Kate wed Prince William in April 2011) rang its bells in honor of the royal’s birthday.

“The Abbey bells are ringing to celebrate the birthday of The Princess of Wales,” they captioned a video of the moment on social media. “Our bell ringers are ringing 542 changes of Stedman Caters followed by a course of Sgurr A’Chaorachain Surprise Royal.”

Although Westminster Abbey was known for ringing its bells to celebrate the birthdays of numerous senior members of the royal family, the tradition has changed amid financial issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before 2020, the bells marked the birthdays of 12 royals. Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and their four children — then now-King Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward— all received the honor, as did Charles’ wife, Camilla. Prince William, Kate and their three kids completed the list.

The Abbey bells are ringing to celebrate the birthday of The Princess of Wales.

Our bell ringers are ringing 542 changes of Stedman Caters followed by a course of Sgurr A’Chaorachain Surprise Royal. #HappyBirthdayHRH pic.twitter.com/5j42284afB

— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) January 9, 2024

In 2024, the bells will ring for the four most senior royals’ birthdays: Princess Kate on Jan. 9, Prince William on June 21, Queen Camilla on July 17 and King Charles on Nov. 14. They will also ring on June 15 for Trooping the Colour, the King’s public birthday celebrations as well as other royal occasions such as the coronation anniversary on May 6.

Prince William, 41, and Princess Kate often set aside a weekend at the start of the year to entertain their family and friends for a few days of shooting and other country pursuits in conjunction with Kate’s birthday. The guest list has previously included Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, William’s lifelong friend Tom van Straubenzee and his wife Lucy Lanigan-O’Keeffe, James Meade and his wife Laura, neighbor and longtime pal Sophie Snuggs and her husband Robert.

In 2021, Kate was treated to a birthday tea party hosted by her husband and kids at Anmer Hall, the family’s country home in Norfolk. Luckily, Prince William knows exactly how to fix the perfect cuppa.

“At the end of the day, she’s in training to be a future queen, but honestly you would never know it,” a source close to Kate previously told PEOPLE. “If you go round to her house, you get a cup of tea, and it’s often William who makes it! It’s a lovely, welcoming house, not a fancy, stuffy palace in any way.”

Like other royal consorts in history, Princess Kate has a toughness behind the scenes as she supports her husband and future king William.

“She has this public image of being nice and smiley and, dare I say, innocuous,” royal author Valentine Low recently told PEOPLE. “But she is actually strong-minded, strong-willed and prepared to fight for what she wants and what she thinks is right.”