17 January 2024 , 18:08
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Prince Harry was served his "revenge" from the palace "cold" over the naming of his daughter Lilibet, a report claims.
A senior member of Palace staff has reportedly told author Robert Hardman that the late Queen was "as angry as I’d ever seen her” after it was suggested that the name had been given her blessing. Robert has also claimed that Buckingham Palace declined suggestions from Meghan Markle and Harry that they should issue a statement "propping up their version of events".
Robert has a reputation for his Palace knowledge after he made several behind-the-scenes royal documentaries. The claims made by the author have since been reaffirmed by another source close to the Royal Family.
READ MORE: Inside Harry and Meghan's row with the royal family over daughter Lilibet's name
Megan and Harry with their son Archie (Getty Images)Hardman, however, claims the Queen's aides painted a very different picture. "One privately recalled that Elizabeth II had been 'as angry as I'd ever seen her' in 2021 after the Sussexes announced she had given them her blessing to call their baby daughter 'Lilibet'" The author said Buckingham Palace then refused attempts by Harry and Meghan to confirm their version of events. "When the Sussexes tried to co-opt the palace into propping up their version of events, they were rebuffed," he writes.
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Sun Royal Photographer Arthur Edwards said: "Harry’s had a fairly clear run of knocking his family and making claim after claim through his documentaries and his book, Spare. But as we are now finding out, not only do recollections vary, some of his claims were somewhat fanciful. They say revenge is a dish best served cold and that’s what the Palace has done."
Harry and Meghan announced in June 2021 that their newborn daughter would be given the late monarch's childhood family nickname as a first name. A spokesperson for Harry and Meghan insisted at the time that the Duke spoke to his grandmother in advance and would not have used the name had the monarch not been supportive.
However, in his new biography King Charles, royal author Robert alleges the late Queen was furious over Harry and Meghan's decision to call their daughter Lilibet in 2021, and their claim they asked for her permission. The book tells how a member of staff recounted Elizabeth II's fury following Harry and Meghan’s announcement in 2021 over the use of her childhood family nickname.
The Queen was allegedly furious over the name (Getty Images)The BBC later reported that a Palace source said the Queen was not asked by the Sussexes whether they could use Lilibet. But the Sussexes’ lawyers fired off legal letters to the broadcaster and other publishers, saying the claim was false and defamatory.
Lilibet was first used when Princess Elizabeth was just a toddler and unable to pronounce her own name properly. Her grandfather King George V would affectionately call her Lilibet, imitating her own attempts to say Elizabeth. The sweet nickname stuck and she became Lilibet to her family from then on.
Harry and Meghan's youngest child, now a princess following the accession of her grandfather, was born in California on June 4 2021. She arrived two months after the death of Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh and in the wake of controversial claims levelled at the monarchy by the Sussexes in their bombshell Oprah interview.