Meghan Markle has just celebrated her first birthday a royal, and it looks like she had a lovely day.

The Duchess of Sussex joined Prince Harry at his close friend Charlie van Straubenzee’s wedding in Surrey.

Away from the celebrations, we’re hoping Prince Harry picked out the perfect present for his new wife to mark the special occasion.

As well as gifts from family and friends, Meghan would have been sent gifts and cards from fans and well-wishers.

But as the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan will have to return many of the presents she received this year, and she had to do the same with her wedding presents.

But as a member of the royal family, she has to be very careful about the presents she accepts and there are lots of rules to follow.

According to the Royal Family’s guidelines: "The fundamental principle governing the acceptance of gifts by Members of The Royal Family is that no gifts, including hospitality or services, should be accepted which would, or might appear to, place the Member of The Royal Family under any obligation to the donor."

However, they also have to consider whether refusing a gift would offend the person offering it.

Gifts from businesses

If Meghan is sent a gift from a business, for example a shop or a fashion designer, these should normally be declined.

Samples also have to be returned, unless it would cost too much to do so.

The only exception to this is if the gift is offered as a souvenir of an official visit.

Gifts from public bodies

Good news for Meghan – she SHOULD be allowed to keep gifts sent to her by a public body.

This includes government bodies, trade associations, guilds, civic bodies, the armed services, charities or similar organisations – as long as they’re in the UK.

Gifts from people they don’t know

Lots of fans and well-wishers would have also wanted to send Meghan a special something to mark her birthday.

However, the royal family are expected to refuse these as well if there are concerns about the motive behind the gift or the person who sent it.

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But Meghan IS allowed to accept them if they fall into one of these categories:

• flowers or food
• books presented by the author, as long as the subject matter isn’t controversial
• other gifts which cost less than £150.

Meghan Markle’s rise to royalty in pictures – from starry-eyed child to Duchess of Sussex

Money

Unsurprisingly, this is a big no-no – UNLESS they’re accepting the money on behalf of a charity.

If they’re sent money they can’t refuse or return, the money is given to charity.

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