As Prince Harry is slated to return to the UK this week, it has emerged that he will make the trip solo, leaving wife Meghan and their children in America. That’s despite reports suggesting that his brother, Prince William, and sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, encouraged the entire family to come.
Given the Sussexes’ choice to resign from royal duties, their relocation to California, and ensuing familial friction, there hasn’t been much contact between Lilibet, Archie and the rest of their relatives.
This has particularly been the case since Lilibet’s birth in June 2021, just three months on from the couple’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.
During a panel discussion on early childhood education with US First Lady Jill Biden on June 11, 2021, Kate was queried about the newest member of the Sussex family. Commenting on Lilibet’s arrival, she stated: “I wish her all the very best,” adding: “I can’t wait to meet her. We haven’t met her yet. I hope that will be soon.”
When asked if she had seen the baby girl over FaceTime or video call, the Princess of Wales noted that she had yet to do so. On June 4 at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Harry and Meghan welcomed Lilibet into the world, making the joyful announcement two days later, as reports the Mirror.
“On June 4th, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili. She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we’ve felt from across the globe,” read a statement from the couple.
“Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family.”
It is believed that the late Queen Elizabeth II met her namesake, Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, only once, when Harry and Meghan returned to the UK for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Sadly, the Queen passed away three months later at the age of 96.
Royal commentator Camilla Tominey revealed in The Telegraph that Prince Harry was keen on capturing a professional photograph of his daughter with the Queen during that visit – a request that the monarch declined.
Tominey wrote: “When the couple made another beeline for Windsor Castle, travelling straight there after landing at Farnborough Airport, she refused their request to have professional photographs taken with Archie, three, and her namesake Lilibet, one.”
The Queen reportedly turned down the opportunity, citing a bloodshot eye, thus thwarting the Sussexes’ hopes for a photo. According to insiders, Harry was ‘persistent’, expressing hope for an official picture of the two Lilibets together in the future.
However, such a moment never came to pass as the Queen died three months later.
Harry and Meghan sparked controversy when they revealed they had named their daughter Lilibet, the Queen’s childhood nickname. The couple insisted they would not have used the name without the Queen’s approval, even instructing lawyers to warn news outlets like the BBC to cease “defamatory” suggestions otherwise.
However, in Robert Hardman’s biography, Charles III: New King, New Court, as reported by the Daily Mail, a palace source claimed that Queen Elizabeth was “as angry as I’d ever seen her” over allegations she had approved the choice of name for the baby girl.
Hardman notes: “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.”
He adds: “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.”
