Next year will be a different matter and his reluctance for a public celebration is likely to be overruled.
Although the pandemic renders future events uncertain, aides are keenly aware that the occasion will have to be appropriately marked, even if plans have to be stripped back.
“It is something that will have to be raised in the New Year,” one said. “But we might get short shrift.
“The one person you can guarantee will not want anything to do with it, is the Duke.
“He’s retired, he’s stepped back, he doesn’t want the fuss. You can’t blame him.”
If coronavirus restrictions allow, the Royal Family will certainly gather for a private celebration, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are hoping to fly over from California to attend.
The date coincides with the Duke’s Invictus Games, due to begin in The Hague on May 29.
The Duke will become the first male member of the Royal Family to turn 100 and the first royal consort to do so.
At 80, when discussing the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday, he told the Telegraph he had “no desire whatsoever” to reach the same age.
“I can’t imagine anything worse,” he said. “Bits of me are falling off already.”
When the Queen Mother reached the milestone in August 2000, there was a procession down The Mall and a Buckingham Palace balcony appearance.
One event said to be in the pipeline for the Duke is a photography exhibition to be curated by the Royal Collection Trust during its annual summer opening of Buckingham Palace.
However, the organisation has not yet confirmed plans for the event.
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