Queen Elizabeth II Refutes Claims of Video Call With Lilibet

The Queen has broken her silence on recent mistruths, in a dramatic departure from the established never complain—never explain policy.

The 95-year-old monarch was reportedly sent over the edge by recent briefings by friends of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to favoured US journalists.

In the latest incident, it was claimed that the Queen was introduced to the couple's second child—Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor—over a video call.

However, palace insiders have stated that no such call took place.

According to the Mail on Sunday, the source of the claim was People magazine, which reported that “they were very excited and couldn't wait to share that their daughter arrived.”

Friends of the Sussexes appear to have given misleading briefings to journalists about what the Queen had said, and this has taken the whole thing over the edge.

Now, further false communications will be dealt with robustly by the Royal Family, according to a source.

The Queen was also shocked to hear that Harry had supposedly contacted her first to ask permission to use Lilibet—the monarch's nickname since childhood.

The couple's spokesman told the New York Post that he had spoken to his grandmother first and revealed his hope to name his first daughter in her honour.

They added that if the Queen had not approved, Harry would not have used the name.

However, a senior palace source told the BBC that the conversation was a telling, not an asking.

The BBC account prompted a legal letter from Harry and Meghan's lawyers, which branded the story defamatory.

Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor's arrival was announced last Sunday, two days after Meghan had given birth on June 4.

In a statement on the couple's website, it was stated that Lily is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty the Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet.

Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honour her beloved late-grandmother, the Princess of Wales.

Yesterday, the Queen marked her first official birthday without her late husband Prince Philip as she attended a scaled-back and socially distanced Trooping the Colour.

The mini version of the celebration was held in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle for the second year running due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The poignant event was held two days after what would have been the Duke of Edinburgh's 100th birthday.

The Queen tapped her foot along to music played by a massed band of the household division and smiled and pointed to the sky as the RAF's Red Arrows flew over the military parade for the first time since 2019.

The Queen's grandad, King George V, first gave her the nickname Lilibet after joking she could not say Elizabeth as a child, and Prince Philip later adopted it.

However, the Queen did not meet Lilibet over a video call, as pals of Meghan and Harry claimed.