Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's claim that Queen Elizabeth II gave her blessing for their daughter to be named Lilibet – the late queen's pet name based on her childhood mispronunciation of “Elizabeth” – angered the monarch so much so that one source described her as “more angry than I had ever seen her” as a result.
The revelation comes in a new book, Charles III: New King, New Court. The Inside Story (published as The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy in the US). The book is published by the Chron.
“On top of all the other breaches of trust, Harry blatantly attacked Catherine. “It was the lowest point of the low for William,” a source is quoted as saying.
William is described in Harry's memoir Spare as “mortified by the casual betrayal of so many brotherly secrets”, and neither he nor Kate read the book, but were instead briefed on key points by advisers.
One of his aides said that William said of the affair: “Whatever is right or wrong, I hope that people feel that I have behaved correctly by following my advice.”
The palace fears there could be either “a sequel”. [to Spare] or perhaps a memoir by Meghan in due course.”
King Charles is said to have learned to “compartmentalize” issues such as the dispute with his son.
A friend is quoted as saying: “Of course the King is extremely sad about Harry and Meghan, but there is a sense of despair that he has done what he could and now that he is King there is much more Things to think about… He tried to listen. Now he just says, 'I don't want to know what the problem is.' I'll just get on with my life.'”
A source described as a senior official said: “You always want your child back. But if your child has decided that they want to do things differently at the moment, you need to give them the space to do so. But the door is always open.”
by esteemed royal writer Robert Hardman and sheds new light on the bizarre row that developed after the Queen's team denied to the BBC that she had given her consent for the name, prompting Harry and Meghan's team to insist otherwise .
As The Daily Beast revealed at the time, Harry and Meghan threatened newspapers with legal action if they repeated the BBC's claims, but that threat was never followed through.
The affectionate nickname Lilibet was given by the parents of the late queen, King George VI. and the Queen Mother, as well as a handful of other people, including her sister, Princess Margaret, and her husband, Prince Philip.
As soon as Harry and Meghan announced the name, rumors began to circulate from the palace disapproving of the Queen.
However, things took a surreal turn after the Palace announced that the Queen had not been asked for her permission, with a spokesman for the Sussexes responding: “The Duke spoke to his family ahead of the announcement – in fact his grandmother was the first. He called his family member. During this conversation, he shared his hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honor. If she hadn’t supported them, they wouldn’t have used the name.”
The Chron, which publishes excerpts from the new book, published a preview of Monday's excerpt on Sunday evening.
The email states that Hardman writes: “A source privately recalled that in 2021, Elizabeth II was 'the most angry I've ever seen her' after the Sussexes announced they were giving them the had given her blessing to name her little daughter 'Lilibet',” the queen's childhood nickname.
“Once again it was a case of 'memories may differ' for Her Majesty – the late Queen's reaction to the Oprah Winfrey interview.”
—Robert Hardman
“The couple subsequently warned of legal action against anyone who dared to claim otherwise, as the BBC had done. However, when the Sussexes tried to get the palace to support their version of events, they were rebuffed.
“Once again, it was a case of 'memories may differ' for Her Majesty – the late Queen's reaction to the Oprah Winfrey interview. These loud threats of legal action duly dissipated and the libel claims against the BBC never materialized.”
Hardman notes that Harry mysteriously “omitted” the entire incident from his memoir, “Spare.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Harry and Meghan's office for comment.