Queen Elizabeth Told Aides Harry and Meghan Took the Only Thing She Owned: Book
Queen Elizabeth II told aides that Prince Harry and Meghan took the only thing she truly owned, according to a new book.
Royal biographer Robert Hardman, in an excerpt from “Charles III: New King, New Court” published in the U.K.’s Daily Mail on Sunday, reported that a former staff member revealed the queen was “as angry as I’d ever seen her” after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex declared that she had given her blessing for them to name their daughter “Lilibet,” which was Elizabeth’s childhood nickname.
The child was born on June 4, 2021, when her great-grandmother was 95.
“I don’t own the palaces, I don’t own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name,” the queen, who died on Sept. 8, 2022, was quoted as saying. “And now they’ve taken that.”
When the media started reporting that Elizabeth had not, in fact, given her blessing to the idea, Harry and Meghan went on the offensive, according to Hardman.
“The couple subsequently fired off warnings of legal action against anyone who dared to suggest otherwise, as the BBC had done,” he wrote.
“However, when the Sussexes tried to co-opt the Palace into propping up their version of events, they were rebuffed,” Hardman continued.
“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.”
How the royals have dealt with a torrent of allegations from Harry and Meghan: Queen was ‘as angry as I’d ever seen her’ after Sussexes claimed they had the monarch’s blessing to use the name ‘Lilibet’, aides tell ROBERT HARDMAN https://t.co/1ql5cI0ZSH pic.twitter.com/nrFc09NjWO
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) January 14, 2024
A representative for Harry and Megahan, meanwhile, continued to push back against the suggestion they had appropriated Elizabeth’s name without her permission.
“The duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement — in fact his grandmother was the first family member he called,” the representative told the BBC at the time.
“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.”
According to reports at the time, the queen was shocked by the request but felt unable to say no.
“Charles III” — which will be published Thursday — examines the years that preceded Elizabeth’s death and the start of the new king’s reign.
Such reports provide further evidence of the dramatic breakdown of Harry’s relationship with the royal family after his marriage to the American actress Meghan Markle in 2018.
Last month, it was reported that the couple might even be stripped of their royal titles under legislation put forward by Bob Seely, a member of the British House of Commons.
“My aim is simple: if someone doesn’t want to be Royal, that is a decision we respect — but they should not keep the titles and privileges if they trash an institution that plays an important part in our nation’s life,” Seely wrote in the Daily Mail at the time.
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