Harry and Meghan: lively controversy around the name of their daughter Lilibet
The media war between the Sussexes and Buckingham Palace was relaunched this week with an unlikely tangle around the first name of the couple's newborn, little Lilibet.
The truce was short-lived. A few days after the birth of little Lilibet Diana, daughter of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the media war is again relaunched between the Sussexes and Buckingham Palace. In question, the first name given to the baby, a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II who had the latter as a nickname. A loving term that her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, still used in private until his passing.
Last Sunday, Harry and Meghan announced with great fanfare the birth of their daughter, confirming this: “Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty the Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet. Her middle name, Diana, was chosen in honor of her beloved late grandmother, the Princess of Wales, ”read on their Archewell Foundation website. Shortly after, several media, including the newspaper "The Times" or the BBC, explained that the queen had been informed in advance of this choice of first name.
Monday, other media drove the point home, including the magazine "Vanity Fair" which quoted a friend of Prince Harry by specifying that the latter had requested the "blessing" of the queen to give this name to his child. Soon after, the first protests emerged, indicating that Harry and Meghan would never actually ask the Queen for her opinion.
Media showdown
It was the BBC, media that has come under fire since it was established by an investigation that it had tricked Princess Diana for her shocking 1995 interview, that opened hostilities by claiming, while citing a door -speak from Buckingham Palace, which Harry and Meghan supposedly had not consulted with the Queen.
Journalist Omid Scobie, official biographer of the Sussexes, said on his Twitter page on Wednesday: “The Duke had spoken with his family upstream, before the official announcement. To tell the truth, his grandmother was the first to know. During this conversation, he had shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honor. If (the queen) had not supported this approach, they would not have used this first name. (...) Prince Harry's entourage confirms that he spoke to his immediate family before the announcement, so maybe what (what the BBC says) underscores how much the assistants within the institution (who learned the news of the birth along with the rest of the world) are now well removed from the private affairs of the Sussexes, ”he said.
A Sussex source says that the Queen was the first family Harry called after Lilibet’s birth and during that conversation, he shared the couple’s hope of naming their daughter in her honor. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.https://t.co/5rGmk3h3o4
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) June 9, 2021
After these statements, the BBC again approached teams at Buckingham Palace who confirmed their version - namely that "nothing was ever asked" of the Queen. Furious, Prince Harry threatened to take libel lawsuit against the BBC, the "Daily Mail" revealed on Wednesday afternoon. “The notice of the lawsuit was followed by a carefully drafted statement (from the Sussexes). This raised more questions than answers as to whether the queen had given her permission or whether the couple had simply informed her of their intentions in the face of a fait accompli, "we read.
The "case" is not over and may offer new twists in the coming hours.
