Prince Archie's Birthday Gift From Harry & Meghan Has A Surprising Backstory

As royal spectators might recall, the coronation of King Charles III on May 6 fell on the same day as his grandson Prince Archie’s fourth birthday. The youngster celebrated his special day with his mother Meghan Markle and younger sister Princess Lilibet in California, while his father Prince Harry attended the landmark royal event in London. Despite keeping intimate details of their everyday lives mostly under wraps, Meghan and Harry’s birthday gift for their firstborn has been revealed — and the story behind it is rather unusual.

Speaking to PEOPLE, the owners of the Montecito, California-based Mad Dogs & Englishmen Bike Shop, Jennifer Blevins and her partner Martin, revealed that they spontaneously decided to gift the young royal a special birthday present to mark the occasion.

“He [Martin] went and he got one of our little specialized kids’ bikes — they’re really nice little bikes — and he’s like, ‘This one’s perfect, it’s got training wheels.’” Blevins continued: “And so he went and got some birthday balloons, and he got some flowers for Meghan and a birthday card, and he said, ‘Okay, I’m gonna bike over and take it to their house.’”

After passing a security check at the couple’s residence, Martin was able to gift the specialized bike, birthday card, and flowers. Shortly after dropping off the surprise goodies, the shop owners shared a glimpse of the birthday bike on Instagram. “We hope yesterday’s special birthday boy had a wonderful day surrounded by lots of love, friends and family. Martin gifted him a new kids bike out of our Montecito shop! We really hope he enjoys it,” the pair wrote in a caption.

The shop owners subsequently received a “personal” thank you letter from Harry and Meghan themselves, that read: “On behalf of Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, please accept their sincere thanks for the thoughtful gift you sent to Prince Archie for his fourth birthday. The bike has brought much joy, and is most appreciated by the family. They asked that I convey their gratitude at the lovely surprise.”

The Mad Dogs & Englishmen Bike Shop owners later shared the letter on Instagram, along with the caption: “We hope they don’t mind us sharing this lovely thank you letter we received today.”