What Queen Elizabeth's Former Aides Say About Harry And Meghan
When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle named their daughter Lilibet Diana, it was seen by many royal watchers as a sweet nod to the newborn's great-grandmother. However, the moniker soon became incredibly controversial with sources close to the late Queen Elizabeth II even hinting that the monarch wasn't happy about it herself. News of the youngest Sussex child's name first broke on June 6, 2021. "Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet," a statement on the Archewell website read.
A few days after her birth was announced, the BBC reported that the queen hadn't signed off on her namesake. Things escalated soon after, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex debunking that explosive claim by clarifying that Her Majesty not only knew, but it was only with her express approval that they'd opted to go ahead with the name. However, things went from bad to worse when, as the Daily Mail reported at the time, The Firm refused to back them up.
As if that wasn't enough drama, early 2024 saw claims emerge that Queen Elizabeth had been upset by the gesture. For starters, in Robert Hardman's "Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story," one palace staffer asserted that in response to the situation, she had been, "As angry as I'd ever seen her." However, there's been much misinterpretation as to why.
The queen didn't appreciate the Sussexes' approach
Robert Hardman's source wasn't the only one to suggest that the queen was unhappy about the name. Speaking to the Daily Mail, another, unnamed insider went as far as saying that while Her Majesty did know about the name before it was made public, she felt she couldn't say anything about it at the time, lest it create further tension within the already strained family.
However, upon realizing that they had gone ahead with her childhood moniker, she confided in the sources: "I don't own the palaces, I don't own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name. And now they've taken that." That said, it may be best to take that particular revelation with a grain of salt. After all, though "Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story" addressed the queen's anger over the situation, the author has clarified on several occasions that it wasn't the name itself that caused an issue so much as the way it was dealt with.
As he explained in an interview with "Good Morning Britain," although the queen was told about the name in advance, it was already decided so there was nothing she could really do. As Hardman detailed, "She was presented as having given her blessing for something that had already been presented as a fait accompli — and the one thing you don't do with the queen is put words in her mouth." That doesn't sound too far-fetched a theory.
Her Majesty was always very close with Prince Harry
Despite her anger over being misquoted by the Sussexes, it's clear that the queen and Prince Harry always had a very close relationship. As Robert Hardman pointed out on "Good Morning Britain," it was unlikely that she'd have been upset over her nickname being passed down. As if to emphasize that particular point, Hardman even began his explanation of her frustrations by noting, "She adores Harry, she adored Lilibet." It was a similar sentiment to what he said back in 2022 when the author was interviewed for "Daily Mail Royals."
During that Q&A, Hardman was asked whether he knew if the Duke of Sussex had asked his grandmother's permission before using the nickname. The author replied that the queen had always had a tenderness towards the so-called spare, musing, "With Harry, there was always a great sense [...] right to the end, you know, she adored Harry, Harry adored her [...] he had a sort of direct line of communication to her."
Sure enough, the prince himself has spoken about staying in contact with the late queen to the end of her days. During his 2021 appearance on "The Late Late Show with James Corden," Harry revealed that he regularly caught up with both Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip via Zoom. Her Majesty may not have loved her grandson putting words in her mouth, but there's no doubt she loved him and his family endlessly.