A Palace source is saying that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle didn’t ask the Queen for permission to use the name ‘Lillibet’ for their daughter – a personal nickname the Queen was referred to especially by her late husband, Prince Philip.
According to the BBC, the source disputed reports that the couple spoke to the Queen about using the name. However, a spokesperson for the Sussexes hit back, saying they wouldn’t have chosen it had Her Majesty not been supportive.
"The duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement - in fact, his grandmother was the first family member he called. During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name,” the spokesperson noted.
The couple’s relationship with the Royal Family has been in the spotlight recently following the interview with Oprah on 7th March.
“I don’t know how they could expect that after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there’s an active role that the firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us. And if that comes with risk of losing things; there’s a lot that has been lost already,” Meghan shared during the tell-all.
Despite the struggles, it was made abundantly clear that both Harry and Meghan’s relationship with the Queen and the late Prince Philip was “really good” and the issues they were facing were from other members (Prince Charles included) and not Her Majesty and the Duke.
The Sussexes named their daughter Lillibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. The name ‘Lillibet’ is laden with personal history for the Queen. It initially came about when she was a child and couldn’t pronounce her own name. Her grandfather, King George V, would affectionately imitate her and the nickname eventually stuck. When her close friend, the Earl of Mountbatten passed, she signed her name as Lillibet on the funeral wreath. Her late husband, Prince Philip, is also known to have called her Lillibet.
Lillibet Diana is named after the matriarch of the family – Her Majesty, and also after her late grandmother, Lady Diana. Following the birth, Buckingham Palace shared a statement that read the family were “delighted with the news.”