As she prepared to settle into the final year of her long reign, Queen Elizabeth II received a Sussex shocker in the late spring of 2021. Both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle delivered a "blow" to Her Majesty's legacy, and there was nothing she could do about it.
The late monarch was "furious" that her grandson and granddaughter-in-law chose to name their daughter Lilibet after her birth on June 4, 2021.
"I don’t own the palaces, I don’t own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name. And now they’ve taken that," the late Queen is reported to have said to one of her courtiers at that time.
Harry and Meghan insist that they received the monarch's blessing to use her childhood nickname for her great-granddaughter; however, later reports from royal sources claim this was not true, which made the Queen "livid." The revelation of Elizabeth II's anger at the situation was shared in Robert Hardman's book, The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy.
Those close to the former working royals pushed back against the supposed "truth" of the situation. "Meghan and Harry 100 percent got permission from the queen to use the name Lilibet," a Sussex insider spilled in January. "The report is not true. [Harry and Meghan] don’t know where this is coming from. They’re shocked that this is coming now; it seems out of nowhere and out of left field. They just feel like it’s more of the same spear campaign that continues against them."
They continued: "They feel it’s convenient [that] this is surfacing now when the queen is not here to defend herself and can’t say what is true or false."
Royal circles rejoiced that this new version of events showed the "vindictiveness" of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex "on full display." "There’s no denying it is pleasing that the truth has emerged. [Harry and Meghan] attempted to railroad their version of events through, which weren’t accepted then, and they are not now," a royal source shared. "You’ll find the silence [from the Palace] speaks volumes, but everyone is quietly celebrating this particular wrong being righted."
The "childish" nickname "Lilibet," which is now the valid first name of a royal princess, dates back to the late 1920s when the revered monarch was a toddler. Princess Elizabeth apparently had trouble pronouncing her name, so her father, King George VI, called her Lilibet. The nickname stuck and would become a favorite of Prince Philip's when referring to his wife.
Furthermore, Hardman suggested that if there is one fear the senior royals may have about the California royal rebels, it is another Prince Harry tell-all — a sequel to Spare.
Daily Express reported on excerpts from Hardman's book.