Queen Elizabeth II has not been asked by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle about the name of their daughter Lilibet, a source in Buckingham Palace told the BBC.
Over the weekend, the couple announced that Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born at a hospital in Santa Barbara, California.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle said that their daughter would be named Lilibet Diana, after Queen Elizabeth II, whose family nickname in childhood and youth was “Lilibet” and after Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana.
A source close to Harry and Meghan told the BBC that Harry had spoken to the queen before the birth and that he had “mentioned” the name. But a source in Buckingham said that this did not happen and that the queen was “never asked” about it.
The relationship between the couple and the royal family has been talked about intensely in recent months. Although Harry talked about the problems between him and his father, he said that he had a “very good” relationship with the queen and that they spoke regularly by video call.
The name “Lilibet” has a personal meaning for Queen Elizabeth II
The nickname was invented when Princess Elizabeth was little and could not pronounce her own name properly. Her grandfather, King George V, affectionately called her Lilibet, a name that came to be used by close relatives.
At the same time, she signed Lilibet on the funeral wreath at the death of one of her close friends, Earl Mountbatten, the name being used by the Duke of Edinburgh.
After Lilibet’s birth, it was assumed that Harry and Meghan first spoke to the queen about choosing a name.
The couple’s “friends” were quoted in the press as saying loudly that Harry had asked his grandmother’s permission.
Harry and Meghan’s daughter is the 11th great-granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II and is the eighth in the line of succession to the throne of Britain and Northern Ireland and the other countries whose head of state is Elizabeth II.