A friend and interior designer to the royals claimed that the Queen thought that Harry and Meghan would name their daughter Elizabeth, not Lilibet, after a phone call with the Duke of Sussex and was taken aback when their choice was announced.
Socialite Nicky Haslam, whose royal friends include everyone from the Duchess of Cornwall to Prince Michael of Kent, made the extraordinary claim on a recent podcast where he insisted the Sussexes should have called her Doria.
Nicky Haslam alleged that the Queen had been under the impression that the child, who was born last June, would be called Elizabeth, and was surprised to discover that the couple had, in fact, called her Lilibet.
He said that he heard that Harry rang the Queen and said that they wanted to name their daughter after his Granny and that she said it was lovely and said thank you, believing that they were going to name the baby Elizabeth, so they got approval, but they didn’t say the name.
Speaking on The Third Act podcast, Mr Haslam goes on to question why Harry and Meghan didn’t name the baby after the American ex-actress’s mother instead.
Why on earth didn’t they call the baby Doria, he asked, adding that it was the prettiest name ever.
A spokesman for the Sussexes didn’t comment, more than three days after a newspaper outlet questioned them about Mr Haslam’s claims.
Mystery has shrouded the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to call their daughter Lilibet since the BBC’s royal correspondent, Jonny Dymond, claimed last year that they didn’t ask the Queen if they could use her family pet name.
In response, Prince Harry and Meghan launched an outstanding legal attack on the BBC, saying the report was false and defamatory.
Their spokesman said the Duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement, in fact, his grandmother was the first family member he called, and during that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour, and that had she not been supportive, they wouldn’t have used the name.
Now Mr Haslam, a friend of the royals has added to the secret of what they did nor didn’t say in their telephone conversation with the monarch.
Lilibet has significant sentimental connotations for the Queen because it was the term used in private for her by her father, George VI, and by her late husband, Prince Philip.
They named their daughter after Harry’s grandmother, the way a lot of people do. There’s nothing ominous in that.
Lilibet is the most adorable name and it’s unique because it’s part of a tradition. The moniker was forged when the Queen was a little girl because she couldn’t pronounce her own name correctly, and her grandfather King George V would affectionately call her Lilibet, emulating her attempts to say her name.
It stuck and came to be used by close relatives, so it’s not a schmaltzy nickname and an indestructible tie to the royal family.
Harry and Meghan picked a name that they liked, and rightly so. Lilibet is a beautiful name and if other people use the name, does that mean that they need to ask for permission to use it from the Queen? But then why on earth would you need permission to name your own child?
No one, including the Queen, has autonomy over what they call their children. So, it’s not a legal issue, it’s just that many people are saying the name was chosen in very bad taste.
It’s Royal protocol to ask the Queen’s permission to use any name, but they don’t have to and they can use any name they want, and people seem to be extremely critical when they talk about Harry and Meghan – just let them get on with their lives because the more attention they get it’s only because people give it to them.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 