Harry and Meghan’s Use of the Name Lilibet Sparks Controversy within the Royal Family

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, have named their newborn daughter Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

However, a war of words has erupted between the couple and the Palace over whether they sought permission from the Queen to use her childhood nickname, Lilibet.

A palace insider insists that Her Majesty was never asked by the couple if they could use her nickname for their daughter.

But Harry and Meghan's London lawyers, Shillings, claim that the BBC's article on the matter is false and defamatory, threatening legal action against the broadcaster and other news outlets that reported on the issue.

Tensions building behind the scenes eventually flared up into a public row after the BBC reported a palace source as saying that the couple had not asked the Queen about the names they wanted for their daughter.

However, sources close to the royal family supported the BBC story.

It is understood that there was disquiet at Windsor Castle following reports in the US suggesting that the Duke and Duchess had, in fact, sought permission from the Queen to use her highly personal nickname of Lilibet.

The nickname came about when, as a toddler, she had struggled to pronounce her own name of Elizabeth.

The dispute sees Harry ranged against his surviving grandmother.

The Queen is the one person in the royal family he and Meghan have kept in touch with during extended rifts with Prince Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge over recent years.

She is also the woman that the former army officer had said would always be his commander-in-chief.

A spokeswoman for Harry and Meghan claimed that the Duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement, and his grandmother was the first family member he called.

During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour.

Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.

However, it appears that Harry may have told her rather than asked her.

The Queen's immediate reaction is not clear, but it is understood that she felt uncomfortable about the use of such a deeply personal nickname.

Lilibet was the name the grieving Queen wrote on a card on the top of the Duke's coffin at his April 17 funeral.

The editor-in-chief of the magazine Majesty said she suspected that the Queen had been given little chance to say no.

Ingrid Seward pointed to the dispute coming so soon after Prince Philip's death.

This is the last thing she needed, to be dragged into a family row.

It's been a difficult year, and this is so sad and unnecessary, she said.

Harry may have intended the choice of Lilibet as an olive branch to his family, but calling his daughter by his grandmother's pet name has raised the possibility of the Sussexes using it to help retain their royal brand and close association with the monarch.

Convinced by the Queen from calling their charity foundation Sussex Royal, after stepping down as full-time working royals, they have used their son Archie's name as the basis of Archwell, their non-profit organization in California.

Royal Watchers pointed to the fact that Harry, who has been keen to keep in with the Queen, rang his grandmother before his father.

Relations between Charles and Harry, once so warm, have been strained in the past year after quarrels over money and other disputes arising from the Sussexes' decision to quit official duties.

Last month, Harry appeared to criticize the parenting skills of his father and late mother Diana — and those of the Queen and Prince Philip — during a discussion about mental health.

But Charles, who has seen Archie only a handful of times since his birth in May 2019, welcomed his granddaughter's arrival in a speech in Oxford as “‘such happy news'”.

Lilibet is the Queen's eleventh great-grandchild — and the first to be born since the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.

The latest royal family rift left the BBC embroiled in fresh controversy, but despite legal threats from the Sussexes, the corporation kept the story on its website yesterday.

In conclusion, the use of the name Lilibet by Harry and Meghan for their daughter has caused controversy within the royal family.

While the couple claims they sought permission from the Queen, palace insiders insist that they did not.

The dispute has raised questions about the Sussexes' relationship with the rest of the family and their use of royal branding.