Royal expert claims Queen will be ‘desperately unhappy’ at Harry and Meghan naming their newborn daughter Lilibet and using Philip’s ‘very private’ nickname for her is ‘demeaning’ after they were ‘rude’ about her
- Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born on Friday evening in California and named after the Queen
- Angela Levin says the nickname was private to Her Majesty and used only by George V and Prince Philip
- She said: ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea. I think it’s quite rude to her Majesty the Queen’
- Piers Morgan wished couple well but added he questioned ‘irony’ of the name after ‘trashing the Royal Family’
- Other believe choosing ‘Lilibet’ is an olive branch to royals after months of potshots from Los Angeles
The Queen will be ‘desperately unhappy’ that Harry and Meghan have used her ‘very private’ and ‘special’ nickname Lilibet to name their second child after they were so ‘rude’ about the Royal Family, a royal expert claimed today.
Angela Levin told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that Her Majesty will be concerned it is a ‘ruse’ – but others claim the Sussexes’ tribute is an olive branch to the monarch after dropping months of ‘truth bombs’ including accusing Harry’s family of racism.
Piers Morgan, who quit GMB after claiming that he didn’t believe a word Meghan had said during her bombshell Oprah interview in March, said the choice of name was ‘ironic’ given the couple had spent weeks ‘trashing the Royal Family and the monarchy’.
Ms Levin explained that the moniker Lilibet was given to her by King George V, her grandfather, because she couldn’t pronounce her name Elizabeth as a toddler – and her late husband Prince Philip also used it until he died this year.
When asked if the Queen would be happy about Lilibet being used by the Sussexes, she replied: ‘Not after what’s happened, I think she’s desperately unhappy. I don’t think it’s a good idea. I think it’s quite rude to her Majesty the Queen’.
She added: ‘It was a very private nickname from her husband who hasn’t been dead for very long. Prince Charles would never dream of referring to his mother as Lilibet. He’s never used it – it was a special name, especially for the the Duke of Edinburgh’. She added she believes it was ‘demeaning’ for the Sussexes to have used it.
Angela Levin claims the Queen will be unhappy, not delighted, that Harry and Meghan have used her nickname to name their second child, born in LA on Friday
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are joined by her mother, Doria Ragland, as they show Archie to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. They have now named their second child Lilibet, after Her Majesty
Journalist Afua Adom, who was also on the show, hit back saying: ‘To say the Queen would be unhappy is frankly ridiculous. It’s a bit of a nod to Meghan’s mother Doria as well, her nickname for Meghan is flower’.
She added: ‘It’s also a bit of a stretch to say that the Queen is fuming that her great grandchild is named after her. I think it’s a nod of affection’.
Piers Morgan has said Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to use the Queen ‘s nickname for their new baby daughter was ‘ironic’ given the couple had spent weeks ‘trashing the Royal Family and the monarchy’.
The DailyMail.com editor-at-large was responding to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announcing the birth of Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, which appeared to have caught Buckingham Palace on the hop.
‘Lilibet’ was the name coined by the Queen when she was too young to pronounce Elizabeth. The 7lbs 11oz baby, whose late grandmother Diana’s 60th birthday would have been next month, was born on Friday evening, UK time.
Buckingham Palace declined to say when the Queen was informed of the safe arrival of her 11th great-grandchild, who is eighth in line to the throne, or whether she was advised of the tribute to her in Lili’s name. However The Times reported that Harry had spoken to his grandmother before yesterday’s announcement was made.
The birth came after Harry and Meghan made a series of explosive claims about the Royal Family and complaints about royal life during bombshell interviews with Oprah Winfrey over the past few weeks months.
Last night Mr Morgan appeared on Australia’s Today programme on Channel 9, and was asked by host Karl Stefanovic what he thought of the name. He replied: ‘It’s quite ironic, isn’t it? You have this couple who have been trashing the Royal Family and the monarchy for the last few weeks and they have named the baby after the Queen.’
Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, plunged the Windsors into crisis with their interview with Oprah in March, when they accused an unnamed royal of making a racist remark about their son Archie’s skin tone and claimed the royals failed to help the Duchess when she was suicidal. They refused to name the royal who allegedly made the remark.
Last month, Harry also spoke to Oprah about mental health for Apple TV+ and suggested his father, Prince Charles, had allowed his children to ‘suffer’ when it came to the media because of his own negative experience.
Mr Morgan – a fierce critic of the couple – said he wondered if the decision to honour the Queen with their daughter’s name was Harry and Meghan’s way of trying to rebuild bridges with the rest of the Royal Family.
He said: ‘Maybe it’s their way of reaching out, as the Americans say, to the royals and wanting some kind of end to this on-running feud.
Mr Morgan, 56, then offered a few words of support to the couple – adding the birth of a child was not the right moment to put across a negative opinion.
‘I always think when a new baby is born – I’ve had four myself – it’s churlish to put any negative slant,’ he said. ‘At such a moment. I wish them all the very best. There is four in the family now. I wish them every success and a long and happy life.’
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (pictured with their first child Archie in May 2019) have announced the birth of Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. Daily Mail Australia’s editor-at-large Piers Morgan has mocked the ‘irony’ of Harry and Meghan’s decision to use the Queen’s nickname ‘Lilibet’ for their new baby daughter
Morgan pictured right on Monday morning appearing on the Today show. He has mocked the ‘irony’ of Harry and Meghan’s decision to use the Queen’s nickname ‘Lilibet’ for their new baby daughter
Sweet family nickname for Queen that inspired Harry and Meghan’s name for their baby daughter
Lilibet – the Queen’s family nickname – was first used when Princess Elizabeth was just a toddler and unable to pronounce her own name properly.
Her grandfather King George V would affectionately call her ‘Lilibet’, imitating her own attempts to say Elizabeth.
The sweet nickname stuck and she became Lilibet to her family from then on.
The Duke of Edinburgh also referred to his wife as Lilibet, writing to his mother in law after their wedding: ‘Lilibet is the only ‘thing’ in the world which is absolutely real to me.’
Harry and Meghan’s new baby daughter – the Queen’s 11th great-grandchild – will be known as Lili. A variation on Lily, the flower is often seen to symbolise purity, commitment, rebirth and fertility.
Lili’s middle name Diana honours Harry’s later mother Diana, Princess of Wales. It is no surprise the couple chose to pay tribute to Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997 when Harry was just 12.
Lili has been born almost a month before the princess would have celebrated her 60th birthday on July 1. Her cousin Princess Charlotte also has Diana as one of her middle names, as well as Elizabeth. She is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.
On Sunday night, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced: ‘On June 4, 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. Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family.’
Lili – who is eighth in line to the throne – was born in Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, a private facility where births cost up to $37,000.
Omid Scobie, a journalist favored by Harry and Meghan, tweeted the couple would ‘not be sharing a photograph at this time’ of Lili and that they were now on ‘parental leave’.
He said the couple’s office was encouraging anyone who wanted to send gifts to instead donate to organizations working for women and girls.
Morgan on Sunday evening meanwhile sounded off Meghan, calling her a ‘downright liar’ in an explosive interview with Stefanovic on the Australian 60 Minutes.
Morgan left his hosting role on ITV’s Good Morning Britain in March after a clash with the show’s weatherman Alex Beresford, who tried to chastise Morgan on air for his questioning of Harry and Meghan’s claims in the Oprah interview.
Morgan had declared he didn’t believe her claims, and after the Duchess lodged a complaint, he was pressured by ITV executives into making an apology, but had declined, amid complaints lodged to UK media regulator Ofcom.
One of the Sussex’s claims he took aim at was that the Duke and Duchess tied the knot in private three days before their official ceremony at Windsor Castle in 2018.
‘Well, that’s not true. They couldn’t have got married three days before they said they did because that would make the Archbishop of Canterbury a criminal,’ Morgan said.
‘There were a lot of things coming out of Meghan Markle’s mouth that I knew to be untrue.’
The Duchess of Sussex has given birth to a daughter named Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, after the family nickname for the Queen and the duke’s mother Princess Diana, who died in 1997. Pictured: Harry and Meghan in February
Morgan (pictured) on Sunday evening also launched a fresh attack on the Sussexes in a heated interview on Australian TV
‘I’m sorry to call her that but she tells lies… We’ve proven that,’ Morgan said about Meghan
Piers Morgan took issue with Markle’s claim she tied the knot with Harry three days before their official ceremony at Windsor Castle in 2018
‘There were downright lies coming out of the interview and I saw my job to hold these two people to the same account I would hold a government minister.
‘For doing that, within 36 hours I had to leave the job.’
Unbeknownst to the morning TV host at the time, Markle had personally contacted the station’s top brass to complain about his criticism.
The bestselling author of ‘Wake Up: Why the World has Gone Nuts’ said nowadays your ‘not allowed to have strong opinions’.
‘You’re not allowed to disbelieve a liar like Meghan Markle. I’m sorry to call her that but she tells lies… We’ve proven that,’ he said.
Australian TV veteran Stefanovic has as times been one of Morgan’s fiercest critics in Australia and previously defended the young couple against Morgan’s attacks.
Talking about Morgan’s feud with Meghan, Stefanovic said in 2018: ‘I mean, what is that guy on? He’s lost the plot completely.
‘I don’t know how his poor co-host puts up with it. Imagine putting up with a dude like that who is so up himself and so egotistical that he would assume to say those things about her.’
‘It’s disgusting. You wouldn’t put up with it. He needs to go. He’s off the mark here.’
In Sunday night’s TV confrontation, Stefanovic asked Morgan if he’s just an angry old man’ – triggering laughter from the media veteran.
Morgan hit back by insisting that ‘freedom of speech is actually more important than the Meghan Markle debacle’.
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