Queen Elizabeth was not thrilled about Harry and Meghan using her private childhood nickname, Lilibet, for their daughter in 2021, according to a new book serialized in the
Daily Mail. Charles III: New King, New Court. The Inside Story, by the Mail’s writer Robert Hardman, quotes a member of the Queen’s staff as saying the monarch was “as angry as I’d ever seen her.”
Publicly, Harry and Meghan insisted the Queen had been “supportive,” going so far as to get their lawyers to warn news broadcasters and publishers that claims Queen Elizabeth wasn’t asked for permission were defamatory and not to be repeated.
But the book says when the couple tried to “co-opt” Buckingham Palace into “propping up” their version about the use of the name, they were “rebuffed.”
Lilibet was said to have come about when the Queen, as a child, couldn’t pronounce her name properly. The moniker was only used by her parents, sister, husband, and a few close friends.
At the time, the BBC quoted a palace source as saying the Queen was not asked by Harry and Meghan as to whether they could use it. Other sources told the media, including the Mail, that while she was called by her grandson and his wife, she felt she couldn’t say no.
The Sussexes’ spokesman said at the time: “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.”
Hardman also wrote that some in the Queen’s household were particularly “interested” that Harry mysteriously “omitted” the entire incident from his memoir, Spare, despite sharing many other private family details.
