A new bombshell book by royal expert Robert Hardman has shockingly claimed that Queen Elizabeth II did not give Prince Harry and Meghan Markle permission to use her childhood nickname “Lilibet” for their daughter’s name.
The book alleges the Queen was left “angry” by the Sussexes’ announcement.
Was the Queen angry with Harry and Meghan?
In excerpts from his forthcoming book “Charles III: New King, New Court”, Hardman writes that a close confidant of the Queen recalled her being “as angry as I’d ever seen her” over Harry and Meghan’s public statement in 2021 declaring Lilibet’s name was chosen with her blessing.
Hardman claims when Harry and Meghan “tried to co-opt the Palace into propping up their version of events, they were rebuffed.”
This contradicts the Sussexes’ spokesperson’s statement that “Had she [The Queen] not been supportive, they would not have used the name.”
The book also alleges that Harry and Meghan “fired off warnings of legal action” against media outlets like the BBC who dared suggest the Queen was not supportive of using her intimate family nickname.
If true, these explosive claims seem to confirm speculation that started swirling after Lilibet’s birth about whether the Queen’s permission was truly granted to use such a private name from her childhood.
Hardman’s book looks set to reignite the controversy over honesty and consent regarding Harry and Meghan’s naming decision that has cast a shadow over what should have been a purely happy occasion.
Lilibet meaning
On June 4, 2021, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, the daughter of Prince Harry and Meghan, was born at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California.
Her name has great significance, dating back to the childhood of Queen Elizabeth II.
When Elizabeth II was a little girl, her closest relatives called her ‘Lilibet’ because she could not pronounce her name well, Elizabeth.
Even King George VI himself, Elizabeth II’s father, referred to her by that nickname. ‘Lilibet is my pride, Margaret (her sister) is my joy,’ he used to say.
Also, the Queen’s childhood nickname was often used by her husband, Prince Philip.
While “the middle name, Diana, was chosen in honor of her beloved late grandmother, the Princess of Wales,” they said.
Little ‘Lili’, as her parents call her, has dual U.S. and U.K. citizenship, as she was born in California.