OMG… Was Queen Elizabeth II not a fan of Princess Lilibet being named after her?!?
In the upcoming book Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story., which will be out on Thursday, a royal aide claims Her Majesty was FURIOUS with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for claiming she approved of them naming their daughter after her! Yikes!
In an excerpt shared with DailyMail.com on Monday, the insider claims Elizabeth was “as angry as I’d ever seen her” after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex publicly stated that they wouldn’t have named their baby girl after her childhood nickname if she hadn’t been “supportive.” Jeez…
Related: Danish Princes’ Feud Is WAY Spicier Than Harry & Will’s!
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard this allegation. It comes two years after a palace insider told the BBC that the late monarch was “never asked” her opinion on Lilibet’s name before her birth in June 2021. BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond tweeted at the time:
“Palace source tells BBC that the Queen was not asked by Meghan and Harry over the use of her childhood nickname; reports suggested Harry had sought permission from Queen to call newborn ‘Lilibet’; but Palace source says the Queen was ‘never asked.’”
Meanwhile, royal sources confirmed to Page Six that the Spare author did call and chat with his grandmother after the Suits alum gave birth — but another insider thinks he likely still didn’t ask for permission to use the moniker:
“It will have likely been a call saying that she’s arrived and we’d plan to name her after you — it’s not really something one can say no to. I doubt they asked — more likely informed.”
Oof. Not great.
But the Sussexes fought back at allegations with their spokesman saying at the time, via the Daily Mail:
“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.”
They even threatened legal action against outlets like the BBC who were running with the narrative that the matriarch wasn’t approving of the name — something author Robert Hardman elaborated on in the bombshell book, writing:
“One privately recalled that Elizabeth II had been ‘as angry as I’d ever seen her’ in 2021 after the Sussexes announced that she had given them her blessing to call their baby daughter ‘Lilibet’, the Queen’s childhood nickname. The couple subsequently fired off warnings of legal action against anyone who dared to suggest otherwise, as the BBC had done. However, when the Sussexes tried to co-opt the Palace into propping up their version of events, they were rebuffed. Once again, it was a case of ‘recollections may vary’ — the late Queen’s reaction to the Oprah Winfrey interview — as far as Her Majesty was concerned. Those noisy threats of legal action duly evaporated and the libel actions against the BBC never materialised.”
Whoa!
Following Lilibet’s birth, Buckingham Palace released a statement on behalf of the whole family, saying they had “been informed and [were] delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.” Prince William and Princess Catherine also shared their own comment, congratulating Harry and Meg. But it seems like maybe the arrival was filled with way more drama than we ever realized!!
Do YOU think Queen Elizabeth really didn’t get a chance to approve of the name?! Sound OFF (below)!
