Prince Harry is seen for first time since bombshell Lilibet claims

Prince Harry looked pensive as he was seen for the first time since the Daily Mail revealed Queen Elizabeth was distraught by his and Meghan’s claim they had her blessing to name their baby daughter Lilibet – the late monarch’s nickname. In the brisk January weather, the 39 year-old royal was spotted jogging in a black jacket and matching shorts, seemingly wearing a frowning, serious expression.

Harry’s post-workout sighting in Santa Barbara, California, on Tuesday morning comes just days after Robert Hardman’s bombshell new biography revealed the late Queen’s anger over the claim in 2021 that she had given them her blessing. A member of Queen Elizabeth’s staff said she was ‘as angry as I’d ever seen her’ after Harry and Meghan publicly stated they would not have used her private family nickname if she had not been ‘supportive.’ 

The Queen was so upset that she told aides: ‘I don’t own the palaces, I don’t own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name. And now they’ve taken that.’ The revelation comes in the latest instalment of a new biography – Charles III: New King, New Court. The Inside Story, by the Mail’s writer Robert Hardman, currently being serialized exclusively in the Daily Mail.

Shortly after Lilibet was born two-and-a-half years ago, Meghan and Harry ordered their aggressive firm of lawyers, Schillings, to write to news broadcasters and publishers – most notably the BBC – saying claims she was not asked for permission were false and defamatory and should not be repeated. But when the Sussexes attempted to ‘co-opt’ Buckingham Palace into ‘propping up’ their version of events, they were ‘rebuffed.’ 

Hardman wrote: ‘One privately recalled that Elizabeth II had been ‘as angry as I’d ever seen her’ in 2021 after the Sussexes announced that she had given them her blessing to call their baby daughter ‘Lilibet’, the Queen’s childhood nickname.’

‘The couple subsequently fired off warnings of legal action against anyone who dared to suggest otherwise, as the BBC had done. However, when the Sussexes tried to co-opt the Palace into propping up their version of events, they were rebuffed. Once again, it was a case of ‘recollections may vary’ – the late Queen’s reaction to the Oprah Winfrey interview – as far as Her Majesty was concerned. Those noisy threats of legal action duly evaporated and the libel actions against the BBC never materialized.’

In 2021, the decision by Prince Harry and Meghan to name their new daughter Lilibet, born in California and having only briefly visited the UK, raised eyebrows. Lilibet was the affectionate childhood nickname of the late Queen, believed to have originated because as a child, Princess Elizabeth struggled to pronounce her name correctly. 

The special name was only used by her parents, King George VI and the Queen Mother, her sister Princess Margaret, her husband Prince Philip, and a few close friends. At the time, the BBC reported it had been told by a palace source that the Queen was not asked by the duke and duchess as to whether they could use it. Other sources told media, including the Mail, that while the Queen was called by her grandson and his wife, she felt she wasn’t in a position to say no. 

The Sussexes’ spokesman did not hesitate to denounce the report and insisted the Queen was the first family member Harry called with the joyous news of his long-awaited daughter’s birth. He said that during their conversation ‘[Harry] shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name’. They then used their legal firm, Schillings, to issue a letter, suggesting the report that the Queen was not asked for permission was ‘false and defamatory and should not be repeated’.

They 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.’ Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12971827/Prince-Harry-seen-time-Queen-Meghan-Lilibet-nickname.html?ito=msngallery

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