Meghan Markle Snuck In a Social Media First on Her 44th Birthday

Meghan Markle’s friends celebrated her birthday with festive messages on social media, and she responded in an online first.

The Duchess of Sussex turned 44 on Aug. 4 and used her personal Instagram page, @meghan, to write back to pals who sent her messages on the platform to mark the milestone.

Meghan unveiled an Instagram profile in January, rejoining the platform in a personal capacity for the first time in years, and the Instagram comments she dropped on her birthday were her first public exchanges with friends there.

The Duchess of Sussex shared love for her friend and former Suits costar Abigail Spencer, who also turned 44 on Aug. 4 and shouted out their shared birthday.

“As glorious as the day I met you. Champagne in human form. A creature unlike any other. Thank you for being a sister in this life, and beyond. Words can’t capture. From the rooftops. So grateful for your life, @meghan ✨. Thanks for saving mine. Love, Abs,” Spencer wrote below throwback photos of them together, plus “44/4. 8/4/81” and a twin emoji.

Responding in the comments, Meghan wrote, “Thank you, sweet Abs! 🥹 Right back at you, and happy birthday to YOU! 44/4.”

Kelly McKee Zajfen was another pal Meghan replied to on Instagram, chiming in on her photo of them sharing a laugh as they stood on a fountain.

“Thank you! 💞🎂 🥂 👯,” Meghan wrote below the tribute in which the co-founder of the Alliance of Moms praised her as “pure magic” and “the kind of friend who makes everything better.”

The Duchess of Sussex dropped a short and sweet reply for Tracy Robbins’ birthday post dedicated to her, sharing a string of pink and red heart emojis.

“Happy birthday my dear @meghan Oh how I can laugh and dance with you like no other. You are sunshine in a bottle!” Robbins began on Instagram. 

“Thank you for always making time to be such a loving and connected friend no matter what’s going on in your life. You dance through this life with so much grace, light and love! I hope your wee posse of 3 are smothering you with hugs and kisses today my dear!  Happiest of birthdays M! ❤️🎂🥳💃🏽”

Robbins sent the message with a collage of black and white snaps of her and Meghan laughing and trying what looked like cocktails with overflowing foam at a restaurant.

The fashion designer is married to Paramount and Nickelodeon CEO Brian Robbins, and the couple has stepped out for several double dates with Meghan and Prince Harry.

Like Spencer and McKee Zajfen, Robbins appeared as a guest on season one of the Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix series With Love, Meghan, which PEOPLE exclusively revealed will return for a second season this fall (though Harry and Meghan’s reported five-year, $100 million Netflix deal has reportedly not been renewed).

Though she didn’t share a post on her own Instagram grid for her Aug. 4 birthday, Meghan’s As ever brand also sent well-wishes to commemorate the occasion.

“Celebrating the woman behind it all,” the brand wrote below a new black and white portrait of Meghan outdoors. “She pours her heart, vision & magic touch into every detail, and today, we raise a glass to her! Happy birthday to our founder @meghan 🥂”

While Meghan’s Instagram responses to her friends mark a social media first, a scroll shows she has actually used the feature previously!

In July, the Duchess of Sussex replied to Shonda Rhimes’ parody of herself “playing Meghan Markle” in an Instagram video filmed at a chicken coop.

The Duchess of Sussex and her family have chickens at their Montecito home, and she wrote back in jest, “I see you, Shonda! Come play anytime,” with emojis of a chicken, heart, egg and laughing face.

The Duchess of Sussex had a busy start to the year with the near-simultaneous launches of her Netflix series With Love, lifestyle brand As ever and Lemonada Media podcast Confessions of a Female Founder in the spring.

Exclusively speaking to PEOPLE in her most intimate interview in years, the Duchess of Sussex opened up about sharing her passions with her largest audience yet, now that her children are older. 

“When your children get to a certain age — when you’re not just playing in the sandbox with them but almost playing in your own sandbox again — it’s super joyful,” Meghan told PEOPLE. “As a woman, a mom and a wife, to be able to find yourself again — in a way that was always present but that you maybe couldn’t put as much attention on as you now can when your kids are a little bit older — is a wonderful feeling.”

Meghan and Prince Harry are raising their children Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, outside of the spotlight in Montecito, California, where her Netflix series was filmed. 

Recalling how Archie and Lilibet would run up to Meghan on-set, a crew member said, “She was super attentive and doting on them. We would give them headphones so they could listen to audio.”

Added Meghan: “I hope that when they get old enough, they feel really proud that they were part of the beginning of this with me.” 

At the start of the year, the Duchess of Sussex surprised fans by rejoining Instagram for the first time in years. Meghan previously ran an Instagram account under her own name, but closed it before marrying Prince Harry in 2018. 

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The couple unveiled the Instagram account @SussexRoyal in 2019 to directly communicate updates about their royal work, but that profile stopped being updated after they stepped back from their royal roles in 2020.

Since getting back on Instagram in January under the handle @meghan, the Duchess of Sussex has mostly used her account to share news about her professional endeavors and celebrate loved ones, shouting out Prince Harry on Valentine’s Day and later commemorating Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’s birthdays.