Meghan Markle and Prince Harry likely caused an elderly Queen Elizabeth “distress” in the last months of her life due to her anger over the couple naming their daughter Lilibet.
A royal expert told the MailOnline that an aide to the late monarch said the Queen was “as angry as I’d ever seen her” after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex claimed they would not have named their new baby Lilibet if Harry’s grandmother had not been “supportive”.
The claim has emerged in Robert Hardman’s new royal biography Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, with royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams backing Mr Hardman as an “authoritative” voice on the subject.
Mr Fitzwilliams told the Mail: “Robert Hardman is one of our most authoritative of historians. He quotes a member of the Queen’s staff saying she was ‘as angry as I’ve ever seen her’ at the way in which Harry and Meghan handled this.
“Lilibet was the charming and deeply personal childhood nickname which was only used by the Queen’s close family and her intimates.
“For the Sussexes to co-opt it in this way and then say it was with her blessing, was despicable if what the aide says is true. It was outrageous behaviour. It meant bringing distress to her last years.”
He added: “Their infamous interview on Oprah, in March of that year, had already made that clear. Their attacks on the Royal Family after they stepped down as senior working members of it, for monetary gain, was therefore totally in character.”
Lilibet Diana was born at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California on June 4, 2021, the year after Harry and Meghan decided to relocate across the pond.
They already had a son, Prince Archie Harrison, who arrived on May 6, 2019 when they were still working royals living at Frogmore Cottage.
At the time Lilibet was born the Sussexes made it appear as if the Queen was supportive of their name choice, and ordered their lawyers Schillings to write to news broadcasters saying claims she was not asked for permission were false and defamatory, and were not to be repeated, according to Mr Hardman.
The book then states that when the couple asked Buckingham Palace to “prop up” this version of events, they were “rebuffed”.
The name Lilibet was a pet name for the late Queen used by her father George VI, Prince Philip and other close friends and family members, because as a child she struggled to say her name Elizabeth.
When Lilibet was born the BBC said they had been informed by a royal source that the Queen was not asked by Harry and Meghan if they could use the name.
Other sources claimed that while she had been called about it, she did not feel as if she were in a position to say no, despite the Sussexes insisting she supported their choice.
A spokesperson for the pair said in 2021: “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.”
