Queen Elizabeth II finally met her great-granddaughter Lilibet, according to page Six.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took their little girl briefly to meet the 96-year-old monarch when they landed in London on Wednesday. Sussex and her children spent more time with the Queen at Windsor Castle on Friday evening, just hours before Lili’s first birthday.
We are told that the royal family is scheduled to commemorate the child’s birth with a private celebration on Saturday. The Queen may have been present at the quiet party since she retired from her scheduled appearance at the Epsom Derby.
Friday’s meeting was held on the same day that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended a Thanksgiving service for the Queen at St. Mary’s Cathedral. Paul of London, where they sat away from Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Her Majesty did not attend the service because of the “discomfort” she felt during Thursday’s Trooping the Color event.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex previously revealed that the nickname they chose for their daughter was an ode to the queen’s childhood nickname used only by members of her immediate family, including her late husband, Prince Philip.
Queen Elizabeth II finally met her great-granddaughter Lilibet after the girl traveled with the parents of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to the United Kingdom. Getty Images; Alexi Lubomirski,
“Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty the Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet,” read a statement from Harry, 37, and Markle, 40, in 2020.
Sources close to the couple, who also share a 3-year-old son, Archie, told Page Six at the time that Harry told his grandmother they planned to use the name.
However, there was soon a scandal over conflicting reports, as palace sources insisted that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had not asked the monarch for permission.
The queen has finally met her great-granddaughter Lilibet.Getty Images
The BBC’s royal correspondent Jonny Dymond reported that the Queen had “never been asked” for her opinion on Harry and Markle’s decision to have their second child.
“The palace source told the BBC that Meghan and Harry did not ask the queen about the use of her childhood nickname,” Dymond tweeted. “Reports suggested that Harry had asked the queen for permission to call the newborn ‘Lilibet’; but the Palace source says the queen” was never asked. “
Independently, the Sussex were excited to introduce their daughter, born in California, to the queen during the girl’s first trip to the United Kingdom, Page Six is told.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are also parents to Archie’s 3-year-old son. Alexi Lubomirski, copyright owner
We heard that the family had stayed at Frogmore Cottage, near Windsor Castle, during their trip to Harry’s homeland for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Harry and Markle appeared at Trooping the Color’s military ceremony on Thursday and at the Thanksgiving service on Friday at St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Prince Charles is also believed to have met his granddaughter for the first time during his last Sussex trip to the UK, although he has not met his uncle William, Aunt Kate Middleton or three cousins from Cambridge.
The queen met Archie after her birth in May 2019. MEGA
The trip was Archie’s first trip back to Britain since the family moved to the United States in 2020. Shortly after her birth, she appeared in a historical photo with the Queen, Prince Philip, Harry and Markle along with the mother of the former “Suits” star. Doria Ragland.
The only members of the family who met Lili before this visit were Harry’s cousin, Princess Eugenie, her husband, Jack Brooksbank, and her child, August, who stayed with the couple in his home in Montecito, California, in February.