Did Meghan and Harry 'breach the Queen's privacy' with the 'inappropriate' baby name Lilibet?
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle welcomed their second child on Friday. They announced Lilibet "Lili" Diana Mountbatten-Windsor's birth on Sunday.
"Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet," the couple said in a statement on the nonprofit Archewell's website. "Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honor her beloved late grandmother, The Princess of Wales."
Multiple royal commentators and journalists have taken issue with the moniker since it became public, suggesting it was offensive to use the Queen's nickname.
But Lili's cousin Charlotte — whose full name is Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge — is also named for her grandmother and great-grandmother, and Prince William and Kate Middleton were celebrated for paying homage to the Queen when they announced their daughter's name.
The backlash against Lili's royally connected name highlights the double standard between Harry and Markle as compared with William and Middleton.
Multiple royal commentators have taken issue with the name Lilibet, with one even arguing it is 'rude' to the Queen
The Queen's nickname was coined by her grandfather King George VI when she was a child.
Prince Philip, who died at the age of 99 on April 9, was also believed to have used Lilibet as a term of endearment, as People reported that the Queen placed a handwritten note on her husband's coffin signed with the nickname at his funeral.
Though Harry and Markle made clear they intended to honor the Queen by calling their daughter Lilibet, some royal critics have taken issue with the name.
On Monday's "Good Morning Britain," Angela Levin said the name was "quite rude" to Queen Elizabeth II because "it was a very private nickname from her husband, who hasn't been dead for very long," adding that "Prince Charles would never dream of calling his mother Lilibet," as Page Six reported.
Though Lilibet was a private nickname within the royal family, its existence has been well-documented in modern times. For instance, it is often used on
Likewise, Piers Morgan, who stormed off "Good Morning Britain" after a cohost accused him of trashing Meghan Markle in April, said the name choice was "quite ironic."
"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," Morgan said, referring to Harry and Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey, as reported by the Daily Mail.
And the Queen's biographer Sally Bedell Smith suggested to Vanity Fair that Harry asking for his grandmother's blessing to use the name didn't matter because of his choice to speak out against the royal family.
"In today's tense climate, when everyone is walking on eggshells with Harry and Meghan, I can't imagine that the Queen had any choice but to accept the name they presented to her, even if she felt — as would be completely understandable — that it breaches her privacy with a suggestion of inappropriate intimacy," Bedell Smith said.
Prince William and Kate Middleton didn't face backlash for naming Charlotte after the Queen and Diana
Princess Charlotte's full name is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, with her middle names honoring her great-grandmother and grandmother.
At the time, it was not only expected but celebrated that William and Middleton would pay tribute to the Queen with their daughter's name.
As Vanity Fair reported in 2015, "royal watchers" thought it was likely that William and Middleton's daughter would be named Elizabeth.
Likewise, according to the BBC, people rejoiced over the multitude of royal connections to Charlotte's name, most notably the fact that it was the feminine form of Charles and therefore honored the Prince of Wales.
Charlotte's royal name was not cause for controversy, and critics have doubled down on the message that it is acceptable only for William to honor his family members with his children's names in recent days.
For instance, Jeremy Vine said on the "Jeremy Vine" show that William naming his daughter Charlotte Elizabeth Diana made more sense than Harry honoring the Queen with Lilibet's name because William "did not accuse the royal family of racism."
The statement suggests that any critique of the royal family precludes Harry or his children from paying tribute to their relatives.
The criticism is just the latest example of the double standard with which Harry and Markle are treated
The negative reactions to Lilibet's name as compared with Charlotte's aren't the only example of Harry and Markle being treated with a double standard.
Markle has long been criticized for the same behaviors for which Middleton was celebrated, such as wearing wedges or cradling a baby bump.
Likewise, Harry and Markle's critics have proved they will take issue with just about anything the duke and duchess do, whether it's their talk of politics, their interview with Winfrey, or their decision to step back from the royal family.
But the condemnation of Lilibet's name is arguably the most egregious example of these critics' biases against the couple, as they're now villainizing a newborn, whose name honors both Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana, because of their disdain for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Harry and Markle can't seem to do anything right in the eyes of their critics, even when it comes to naming their child.
