In 2022 Jose decides to set up a trust for the benefit of his two sons

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By Sara Nathan

June 29, 2019 | 9:30pm

Joseph Baena (left) and Katherine Schwarzenegger and Chris Pratt (right) Dave L / BACKGRID; FilmMagic

Among the many good wishes for newlyweds Katherine Schwarzenegger and A-lister Chris Pratt online, one message stood out the most.

Joseph Baena — the love child of Katherine’s father, Arnold Schwarz­enegger, and the family’s one-time housekeeper, Mildred Baena — posted “Congratulations!” on a photo on Katherine’s Instagram, adding two hearts and a champagne-bottle emoji.

Baena, now 21, and a true lookalike of the former governor of California, was noticeably absent at his half-sister’s San Ysidro Ranch wedding in Montecito, Calif., on June 8.

Katherine’s siblings Christina, 27, Patrick, 25, and Christopher, 21 — all born to Arnold and Maria Shriver — were in attendance. But according to a source who has worked with the family, the new Mrs. Pratt, 29, and Christina “have really no relationship with Joseph. I think the sons have more of a relationship with him.”

A close family source told us: “Eight years later, everyone is feeling their way out of a nightmare, and they’ve all done a really good job finding their way into a new normal.”

Another family source added: “They are trying to navigate a private relationship before it’s a public one.”

Recent college graduate Joseph — known to pals as Joe — yearns for a connection with his siblings.

For National Siblings Day on April 10, Katherine took to Instagram to post photos of herself with Christina, Patrick and Christopher, with the caption “I love them so much #national­siblingsday.”

She was immediately called out by commenters who noticed the slight against Joseph. One wrote: “. . . they never acknowledge their youngest brother . . . Joseph always always likes all of [his Schwarzenegger siblings’] photos and follows them. But they always like most of Arnold’s photos except the ones with Joe in them.”

(Katherine, Patrick and Christina do not follow Joseph on the platform. Christopher does not have a public account under his own name.)

But it’s not like the Schwarzenegger kids don’t know Joseph.

“He grew up around them,” explained a Schwarzenegger insider. “He was a regular at the mansion in Pacific Palisades, where the family lived from 1986 until 2003.”

But a source who knows Katherine said: “Why should she have a relationship with this kid? Joseph is the product of an affair that Arnold kept hidden for years! This was a deeply damaging and shameful situation that destroyed her family. I can’t say I blame her for not wanting to embrace this living ­reminder of that.”

Joseph has established one loving relationship since his true parentage was revealed — with his dad, Arnold.

The now-71-year-old actor, who sired his son while married to Maria, the NBC News correspondent and niece of President John F. Kennedy, hid the fact that he was Joseph’s father for 15 years. Until 2011, Mildred had claimed the boy was the son of her now-ex-husband Rogelio Baena. Mildred is said to have six kids in total.

“Maria got suspicious as Joseph started to look so much like Arnold,” said the Schwarzenegger insider.

It all came to a head when Maria, who had even attended Joseph’s christening, asked Mildred — who confessed and broke down in tears. Maria, however, encouraged Mildred not to quit right away.

She then confronted Arnold during a couples counseling session, and the truth finally came out, leading to the breakdown of their 25-year marriage.

“It’s a very tough situation for him. It’s a very tough situation for my kids. Very tough situation for my family. It was tough for everybody,” Arnold told Howard Stern in 2015. “But it has happened and now we have to figure it out, right?”

That involves Arnold — a former Mr. Universe — being a sort of mentor to Joseph. The son, who is dating model Nicky Dodaj, frequently posts social media of himself pumping iron and working out.

“Joe adores his dad and he wants to be just like him,” said a family source. “They train together at Gold’s Gym in Los Angeles, and Arnold wants to bring him into The Arnold Classic Worldwide, his sports contest.” (The festival, held on multiple continents, includes competitions for bodybuilding, combat and other athletic endeavors.)

While a source close to Arnold denied he’s joining the business, an insider close to the family said, “Arnold loves when all five of his kids share his passions. Whether it’s learning business, giving back through philanthropy, getting into movies or fitness, he takes great joy in seeing all of his kids succeed and make the world a better place.”

Arnold also financially supported Joseph through his schooling at Pepperdine University, from which he graduated in April with a degree in business.

While his sisters ignore him on social media, Joseph’s dad is happy to show his love.

After the graduation, the “Terminator” star posted a photo on ­Instagram of the two together, writing, “Congratulations Joseph! . . . You have earned all of the celebration and I’m so proud of you. I love you!” Baena replied: “Love you Dad! Thank you so much.”

Joseph isn’t the only one in his family to recently graduate. Mildred did so in 2017, from culinary school. She now lives in a home Arnold bought for her in Bakersfield, Calif.

Arnold had admitted that his split from Maria, now 63, was one of the lowest moments of his life, telling Stern, “I had personal setbacks, but this was, without any doubt, the biggest setback and the biggest failure . . . Not only failure, but you feel like, ‘I’m to blame for it. It was me that screwed up.’ And you can’t point the finger at anyone else.”

In his 2012 memoir, Arnold revealed he first gave Maria three “lame” reasons why he hid the truth about Joseph from her: embarrassment, a compulsion for secrecy and not wanting her to tell her famous family.

He also told how he had sex with Mildred in 1996 in the guesthouse of his Pacific Palisades mansion while Maria was away on vacation with their kids.

When Mildred gave birth, she named the baby Joseph and listed her husband as the father — and, Arnold wrote, he “wanted” to believe that, and did, for years. But he, too, could not ignore the striking resemblance.

(A Mildred source told The Post that the housekeeper’s husband was “blindsided” when he discovered the truth about Joseph.)

The actor wrote in his memoir that he immediately began groveling after telling Maria the truth.

Incredibly, though the two have not been together for eight years, they still have no plans to divorce, the source who has worked with the family told The Post. Maria is single, while Arnold has a longtime girlfriend, physical therapist Heather Milligan.

Insiders say the exes remain good friends.

“There are no plans for divorce right now, but I’m not going to say it won’t happen,” said the source who has worked with the family, adding that a financial settlement was agreed to some time ago.

According to the source who knows Katherine, “Arnold and Maria have assets tied up together — tax breaks, insurance, all kinds of financial trusts. They’re actually better off if they stay married.”

But, the Katherine source added, while “they both care for each other . . . it’s not like they’re getting back together.”

“Eight years later, [the family] is feeling their way out of a nightmare, and they’ve all done a really good job finding their way into a new normal,” said the close family source.

“[Maria’s] always been respectful of Arnold because he’s her [children’s] dad. She’s never, ever bashed him,” a media source told The Post. “All her kids seem to be very close, they’re very tight. Family and faith is very important to all of them.”

This past week, while filling in for Hoda Kotb on the “Today” show, Maria recalled how emotional the wedding was for her.

“I found it so interesting to talk to people about how everybody, when they watch a couple devote themselves to each other, they’re going through their own life experience with that,” she said.

Whatever was on her mind, she needn’t have worried about Joseph.

“Even if he had been invited, he would say he wouldn’t have wanted to go to the wedding as he would be a distraction,” said the source who has worked with the family. “It would have definitely taken away the shine from Katherine’s big day. It would have really been the only story of the day.”