Royal Insider Claims Queen Elizabeth Was Misled About Lilibet's Name
Ever since Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcomed their daughter in June of last year, there have been conflicting reports about how Queen Elizabeth feels about the little girl being named after her. The official word was that she was "delighted" by the news that her 11th great-grandchild's moniker paid homage to her childhood nickname (via StyleCaster).
As the BBC notes, Lilibet is what the Queen's grandfather, King George V, called her when she was just a toddler, an affectionate pet name that reflected the future sovereign's attempt to say "Elizabeth." Reportedly, Prince Philip also called his wife Lilibet.
The BBC story, written by royal correspondent Jonny Dymond, reported that although Buckingham Palace declared that Her Majesty was pleased with Meghan and Harry's decision to name Archie's little sister after her, and that the couple claimed Queen Elizabeth gave her blessing after being consulted about the idea, the reality was that she knew nothing about it ahead of time.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle maintain they got the Queen's permission
Soon after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's daughter was born in June of 2021, a spokesperson for the new parents of two said about their baby name choice, "The duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement — in fact, his grandmother was the first family member he called" (via The Guardian). The spokesperson further contended that the couple conveyed they hoped to use the name Lilibet, adding, "Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name."
The queen reportedly thought the Sussex's had a different name in mind
At the time, in addition to the BBC story that casted doubt upon the Queen being consulted on the name choice, royal commentator Louise Roberts was also disputing the validity of this claim. She said about the Queen, "Other suggestions out of the UK are that she is not entirely happy with them hijacking her pet name" (via Express). Instead, she suggested Harry and Meghan could have just named their second born Elizabeth.
And now, following the photo opportunity that wasn't of Queen Elizabeth meeting Lilibet, whose middle name is Diana after her grandmother, at the Platinum Jubilee and to mark the tot's first birthday, another royal insider is challenging the notion that the monarch was on board with the name choice.
The whole matter may have been a misunderstanding
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not having it when BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond reported in June of last year that Queen Elizabeth had not known about their decision to name their daughter after her. According to the Daily Mail, they went so far as to file a lawsuit, calling the story "false and defamatory."
Enter a new version of events that seemingly arrives on a middle ground between the monarch knowing nothing about the baby name choice — and having offered her full blessing for the child to be called Lilibet.
A royal insider, interior designer Nicky Haslam, says the phone call between Prince Harry and his grandmother indeed took place, but not in the way that was previously reported. "I heard he [Harry] rang her and said: 'We want to call our daughter after you, Granny.' She said: 'How charming of you, thank you.'"
The misunderstanding according to Haslam was that she thought the name would be Elizabeth, not Lilibet. "So they got the permission, but they didn't say the name," the insider claims.
The name Lilibet connects the Queen to her past but she doesn't have to approve of its use
Given all the versions of what transpired between Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth surrounding the naming of his second child with Meghan Markle — did she know, did she not know? — one has to wonder why it matters so much?
The controversy seems to be that as NBC News royal commentator Daisy McAndrew explained to Today in June of 2021 about the name Lilibet, "This is a very, very personal nickname. In a way, it's not a real name at all, and it is totally synonymous with the queen."
After her great-granddaughter took on the name Lilibet, the nickname no longer belonged solely to Her Majesty. However, could this honor not be considered a way for the nickname to live on after the 96-year-old is gone?
Ultimately, we'll never know for sure how Queen Elizabeth feels about the name, but as Louise Roberts noted according to Express about the monarch, "I mean she is not a dictator, she does not approve things or say yes or no in that way."
So at the end, Harry and Meghan can do — and did — whatever they wanted in naming their own child.