Poignant claim made over Queen Elizabeth II's only meeting with Princess Lilibet before her death
Lilibet met with her great-grandmother in June 2022A new royal book has shed some light on the late Queen Elizabeth II’s first meeting with her great-granddaughter Princess Lilibet.
During her platinum jubilee celebrations in June 2022, Queen Elizabeth II spent some time with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s daughter. It’s believed it was the first time the late queen had met her great-granddaughter, who was born in June 2021.
Lilibet’s first birthday coincided with the platinum jubilee celebrations, which celebrated Queen Elizabeth II’s incredible 70-year reign.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex returned to the UK from the US to attend the celebrations. They brought their children Archie, now six, and Lilibet, now four, with them.
Queen Elizabeth II’s first meeting with Princess Lilibet
In his new biography of the late monarch, Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. Her Story, Robert Hardman reflects on the moment Lilibet met her great-grandmother, who she is named after.
Hardman writes: “The queen would finally get to meet Lilibet and was thrilled, say friends, as the 1-year-old crawled around her feet.”
The meeting came just a few months before Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September 2022.
Prince Harry also discussed the meeting in his memoir Spare.
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He wrote: “I also couldn’t stop picturing [the children] with Granny. The final visit. Archie making deep, chivalrous bows, his baby sister Lilibet cuddling the monarch’s shins.
“Sweetest children, Granny said, sounding bemused. She’d expected them to be a bit more…American, I think? Meaning, in her mind, more rambunctious.”
Queen’s ‘final wish’ for her great-grandchildren
Elsewhere in Hardman’s book, he revealed Queen Elizabeth II’s last request about her great-grandchildren.
The queen would finally get to meet Lilibet and was thrilled, say friends, as the 1-year-old crawled around her feet.
In the weeks before her death, the queen spent her summer break at Balmoral. She traditionally spent the summer at the Scottish estate. She died at the castle on September 8, 2022, at the age of 96.
According to Hardman, the queen wanted all of her great-grandchildren to visit Balmoral over that summer.
Who are the queen’s great-grandchildren?
Queen Elizabeth II was a great-grandmother to Peter Phillips’ daughters Savannah and Isla Phillips, Prince William’s children George, Charlotte and Louis as well as Zara Tindall’s kids Mia, Lena and Lucas.
She was also a great-grandmother to Prince Harry’s children Archie and Lilibet, Princess Eugenie’s son August as well as Princess Beatrice’s daughter Sienna.
The drama surrounding Princess Lilibet's name explained
When Lilibet was born in June 2021, the couple announced they had named her after Harry's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, whose childhood nickname was Lilibet.
A King Charles biography, written by Robert Hardman, later claimed that an aide said that the queen was "as angry as I’d ever seen her" after Harry and Meghan announced they wouldn’t have named Lilibet without Her Majesty’s support.
Did Prince Harry get permission over Princess Lilibet name?
At the time of Princess Lilibet’s birth, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex maintained that Prince Harry had consulted with the late queen beforehand over the name.
He said they would not have used the name if the monarch wasn’t supportive over the idea.
A spokesperson said at the time: "The duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement – in fact 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."
Queen's 'true feelings' over Lilibet's name
However, a source claimed to the Daily Mail it was not the case: "Harry and Meghan presented this to the Queen as: 'We’re going to call her Lilibet. Isn’t that great.'
"The palace version was that they didn’t ask. The queen was asked to prop up their version of events that didn’t match her own. She wasn’t furious about using the name Lilibet, it was the way it was handled."
Then another source from the BBC claimed they were told by a palace insider the queen was not consulted over the name Lilibet before the princess was born.
A source close to Meghan and Harry refuted the claims again in 2024: "Meghan and Harry 100 percent got permission from the queen to use the name Lilibet."
Two more great-grandchildren were born after the queen’s death: Eugenie’s second son Ernest and Beatrice’s second daughter, Athena.
Read more: King Charles set to ‘address the nation in poignant moment’ for Queen Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday
Hardman writes in his book: “The queen wanted all the great-grandchildren to come up to Balmoral at some point over that summer, even if the Sussexes might not be able to make it.
“‘She wanted to make sure that they all had a really happy memory of her,’ explained a friend of the family.”
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