Queen Elizabeth's name has been retained as a middle name for several of her great-grandchildren, but Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took a different approach when it came to honoring the Duke of Cambridge's grandmother. Instead of giving their daughter "Elizabeth" as a middle name, as other members of the royal family have done, they named their second child after the Queen, using her family nickname, "Lilibet.".
When her daughter's birth was announced in 2021, it was noted that Lilibet "Lily" Diana was "named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty the Queen, whose family nickname was Lilibet," and her "middle name, Diana, was chosen in honor of her beloved late grandmother.".
Have the Sussexes received the Queen's blessing?
A few days after the announcement, a palace source told the BBC that the Queen had not been asked for permission to use the name Lilibet, although Harry and Meghan denied this. A spokesperson for the Queen stated, "The Duke spoke to his family before the announcement—in fact, his grandmother was the first family member he called.".
Meghan and Harry named their daughter after Queen Elizabeth (@John Stillwell - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
«"During that conversation, he shared their hope to name their daughter Lilibet after her. If she hadn't supported them, they wouldn't have chosen that name.".
Next year, in 2022, friend Queen Camilla , interior designer Nicky Haslam, said in a podcast HELLO! The Third Act , Harry told his grandmother that he and Meghan wanted to name their daughter after her, but didn't reveal the name. According to Nicky, the Duke called the Queen and told her, "We want to name our daughter after you, Grandma," and she replied, "Oh, how lovely, thank you," thinking it would be Elizabeth. So he got permission, but they didn't reveal the name.
In the book «Charles III: New King, New Court. The Inside Story» Author Robert Hardman writes that one staff member recalls how in 2021 the Queen was "furious as never before" after the Sussexes announced that she had given them her blessing to name their newborn daughter "Lilibet," a nickname the Queen gave her as a child.
Cousins Isla Phillips and Lena Tindall share the middle name Elizabeth (@Getty Images).
Great-grandchildren who have "Elizabeth" as their middle name.
Princess Lilibet is the only one of the late monarch's great-grandchildren whose name is a tribute to the Queen, and the only one to bear her beloved nickname. Peter Phillips was the first of the Queen's grandchildren to give one of his daughters the middle name Elizabeth. Isla Elizabeth Phillips, born in 2012. Zara Tindall also chose "Elizabeth" as the middle name for her second daughter, Lena Elizabeth Tindall, as the Prince and Princess of Wales for their daughter, Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. Elizabeth is also the middle name of Charlotte's mother, Catherine, and grandmother, Carole Middleton .
Queen Elizabeth is among the people Eugenie and Jack have named their daughter after (@PrincessEugenie)
Both daughters of Princess Beatrice, Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi и Athena Elizabeth Rose Mapelli Mozzi , also bear the name "Elizabeth" as a middle name. The last great-grandchild to honor the late Queen in this way was Princess Eugenie's daughter and Jack Brooksbank , Adelaide Elizabeth Annina Brooksbank .
Fourteen days after giving birth, Evgenia announced on Instagram that her newborn daughter had been named after three people we love and admire, past and present, including her great-grandmother, whom we treasure dearly.