Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Make Rare Statement Against Report About Baby Lili’s Name

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are setting the record straight on their newborn daughter’s name. After the BBC published a report citing a Palace source who claimed the royals did not consult with Queen Elizabeth before using her childhood nickname, Lilibet, as their daughter’s first name, the Sussexes released a rare statement denying the allegations.

In a statement released shortly after the publication of the story in question, a representative for the proud parents of two said Harry “spoke with his family in advance of the announcement,” adding that his grandmother “was the first family member he called.” During their conversation, according to the representative, Harry “shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honor,” contradicting the BBC report as well as royal correspondent Jonny Dymond’s claim on BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today program that the Queen was “never asked.” Harry and Markle’s rep added that had the Queen “not been supportive, they would not have used the name.”

While the BBC report now includes the couple’s statement, and Dymond’s tweets about it remain, the initial reporting remains on the BBC’s website. That story states, in part, “the source disputed reports in the wake of the announcement of the name that Prince Harry and Meghan had spoken to the Queen before the birth.” The report also now states that the UK broadcaster, as well as other “news broadcasters and publishers,” has received a legal letter from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s attorneys at Schillings calling the BBC report “false and defamatory.”

Harry and Markle announced on June 8 that they welcomed their daughter, their second child, on Friday, June 4, with the little royal weighing “7 lbs 11 oz” and both mother and child “healthy and well.” The announcement also provided the little one’s full name, Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, which offers a nod to both the Queen and the late Princess Diana. Lilibet was the Queen’s childhood nickname, which came about when she was just a toddler and couldn’t pronounce her own name properly. Her grandfather King George V affectionately called her Lilibet, a nickname that stuck and was often used by her late husband, Prince Philip. At Philip’s funeral in April, the Queen even placed a signed note on top of his coffin sweetly signed from “Lilibet.” Lilibet, however, also doubles in meaning, as it also offers a nod to Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland. Markle revealed in a former blog post that her mother called her “flower,” meaning her daughter’s nickname of Lili is a sweet nod to that nickname.