Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex have denied a report in the British media that they did not ask Queen Elizabeth II about naming their daughter Lilibet, after the monarch’s childhood nickname.
A BBC report, which cited an unnamed Buckingham Palace source, stated that the couple never checked whether they could use the moniker before naming their second child, who was born on Friday in California.
But a spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex told CNN that Harry spoke with the Queen before the announcement, and said she was supportive of the decision.
“The Duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement. In fact, his grandmother was the first family member he called,” the spokesperson told CNN. “During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honor. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the names.”
Buckingham Palace told CNN it would not be making an official statement on the matter.
Lilibet is Elizabeth’s nickname within the royal family. It stems from her childhood, when the then-princess was unable to pronounce her own name properly.
Harry and Meghan’s daughter, Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, was named after both the 95-year-old monarch and Princess Diana, Harry’s late mother.
Her birth was announced on Sunday, with the couple saying they had been “blessed” by their daughter’s arrival.
The Queen’s nickname came about after her grandfather, King George V, affectionately imitated her attempts to pronounce “Elizabeth.” Her husband, Prince Philip, who died in April, also reportedly called his wife by her childhood pet name. When the Queen’s mother died in 2002, her coffin held a single wreath from the monarch with a card signed, “In loving memory, Lilibet.”
