When Suri Cruise was born on April 18, 2006, she quickly became one of the world’s most famous celebrity babies.

Her parents, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, were the ‘super couple’ of the noughties.

Everywhere they went, the paparazzi followed and almost every photo that emerged of the couple featured baby Suri, so often being carried by her father.

Now, eight years on from Tom and Katie’s highly-publicised divorce in 2012, the world doesn’t see much of Suri Cruise anymore.

But on Saturday, Katie wished her daughter a happy 14th birthday on Instagram.

“Happy Birthday Sweetheart!” the 41-year-old actress wrote, alongside a photo of a birthday banner.

“I am so blessed to be your mum. May this year be incredible!”

 

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????Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!!!!!! ???? I am so blessed to be your mom. May this year be incredible! ????????????????

A post shared by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Apr 17, 2020 at 8:53pm PDT

She also shared a photo of Suri wearing a flower crown.

 

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Birthday vibes ????????

A post shared by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Apr 18, 2020 at 12:01pm PDT

Back in February, the Dawson’s Creek actress shared a rare photo of her daughter on Instagram.

“No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself,” she captioned the post.

 

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“No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.” -#virginiawoolf

A post shared by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Feb 17, 2019 at 2:30pm PST

Katie also shared a photo of her daughter on New Year’s Eve in 2018.

 

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Happy New Year!

A post shared by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Dec 31, 2018 at 1:07pm PST

Earlier this year, the actress told InStyle that Suri is now at the age where she’s developing her own interests.

“I love her so much,” she told the publication. “My biggest goal has always been to nurture her into her individuality, to make sure she is 100 percent herself and strong, confident and able. And to know it. She came out very strong — she’s always been a strong personality.”

At 14, Katie says Suri has gone through her “girlie stage” and likes to try out new things.

“She’ll pick an activity and work her butt off until she’s really good at it. Then she’s like, ‘Okay, I’m going to try the next thing’. She’s very focused and a hard worker.”

Katie also opened up about her relationship with her only child in a rare interview with Stellar Magazine in November 2019.

“I have a really close relationship with my mum and a close relationship with my daughter,” she told the publication.

“I have taken advice from my mum in raising my daughter. I appreciate the bond that all of us have, and I appreciate more and more my own mother and the challenges she faced now that I’m a mum.”

Katie, who was in Australia as the ambassador for McHappy Day at the time, added that she and Suri “do a lot of volunteer work together.”

“I enjoy volunteering with my daughter and hearing her point of view and listening to her suggestions on how we can help. It’s important to go and see for myself, and to be part of helping people in any way that I can.”

It’s not the first time the 41-year-old has spoken about her close relationship with her daughter.

In a November interview with Elle U.K., she shared what it was like to become a mum at 27 years old.

“I was happy to become a mum in my 20s,” she said.

“It’s been nice that our ages fit… how do I put this? Every age that my child has been and my age at that time has been a good match. We kind of grew up together.”

Speaking to Town & Country back in 2017, Katie opened up about the challenges of raising her child in the spotlight, saying “My child is the most important person to me, and her upbringing is paramount to my work right now.”

“It’s very important that I’m present and she has a stable, innocent childhood. I feel so blessed to do what I do, but there’s nothing in the world better than watching your child succeed.”

But although Katie has a close relationship with her daughter and occasionally shares photos of her, images of Tom with his daughter have virtually ceased to exist since 2013.

In fact, although the former couple share custody of their daughter, it’s believed the actor is largely estranged from the 13-year-old.

 

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A post shared by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Jul 1, 2018 at 8:55am PDT

For many years, fans have questioned why the actor has seemingly stopped all communication with Suri.

Although Tom is reportedly allowed to see Suri 10 days a month, according to his divorce settlement to Katie, he has chosen not to due to his devotion to Scientology.

“Every person is allowed to see their child if they wanted to,” a source told Us Weekly. “He chooses not to because she is not a Scientologist.”

Reportedly, it is Scientology’s ‘disconnection’ policy between current and former members of the church that has been one of the main contributing factors for Suri’s estrangement from her father.

“Tom eats, breathes and sleeps Scientology,” a source told In Touch.

“He’s disconnected from Katie, and then de facto from Suri, because of her connection to Katie. He hasn’t seen her since she was seven,” they alleged.

According to the Scientology website, L. Ron Hubbard (the founder of the church) defines disconnection as a "severing of a communication line" between those who are in the church and those who are "antagonistic" towards Scientology.

The church also classifies former members - those who have publicly renounced their faith - as "suppressive persons" (or SPs).

Since Katie has since returned to her Catholic faith, it's fair to assume she has been labelled a "suppressive person" by the Church of Scientology and Cruise is therefore prohibited from communicating with her.

Since Katie also has majority custody of their daughter, his disconnection is extended to his youngest daughter.

Feature Image: Getty.

This article was originally published on February 2, 2019, and was updated on April 19, 2020.