For Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, June 4, 2021, will always be an important day. That is when they welcomed their new daughter Lilibet (or “Lili”) into the world!
Lili was born at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California at 11:40 a.m. And at seven pounds and 11 ounces, she is perfectly healthy.
Beyond the fact that she was born, though, it can be difficult to find details about Lili. Fortunately, we’ve prepared a thorough guide with everything you need to know about this latest addition to the Royal Family!
Her full name is Lilibet Diana Mounbatten-Windsor
Harry and Meghan refer to their new baby girl as “Lili.” But her full name is quite the mouthful: Lilibet Diana Mounbatten-Windsor!
While the name may sound unusual, Harry and Meghan have announced the name is paying tribute to none other than Queen Elizabeth. It turns out that “Lilibet” is the Queen’s nickname within the Royal Family because when she was a child, young Elizabeth had trouble pronouncing her own name.
Her grandfather, King George V, was amused by this and imitated her attempts to say her own name. Thus, “Lilibet” became Elizebeth’s nickname, and now it is the name of Harry and Meghan’s daughter.
Meanwhile, Lili’s middle name “Diana” is, of course, a tribute to Harry’s late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, who would have turned 60 this year.
Prince William’s six-year-old daughter Princess Charlotte is also named in tribute of their mother and grandmother, with her middle name being “Elizabeth Diana.”
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Why Harry is threatening to sue the BBC over Lili’s name
As soon as Lili’s birth announced, controversy arose over her name. Harry and Meghan have had a contentious relationship with the British press for years. Now, Harry is threatening legal action against the BBC thanks to a claim they made about Lilibet’s naming.
According to the Daily Mail, BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond reported that Queen Elizabeth was “never asked” about Harry and Meghan naming their daughter after her, according to his Senior Buckingham Palace sources.
Less than an hour and a half after the BBC’s report, Harry rebutted that claim through a spokesperson, his close friend and noted journalist Omid Scobie.
Scobie tried to set the record straight, revealing that Elizabeth was supportive of their name choice. “The Queen was the first family member Harry called after Lilibet’s birth and during that conversation, he shared the couple’s hope of naming their daughter in her honor,” Scobie said. “Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.”
Harry is now threatening legal action against the BBC over their report. But the BBC is not backing down yet. Although they’ve amended their article, it still says that the Queen was not asked about the name of the baby.
How Meghan and Harry are doing after the birth of Lili
Meghan and Harry have had a tumultuous few years. Since marrying in 2018, they had their first child, stepped down from royal responsibilities, moved to the U.S., gave a bombshell interview to Oprah that dished on the Royal Family’s dirt, and then endured the death of Prince Philip.
Now that they have welcomed a second child into this world, how is Meghan doing after the birth? “Both mother and child are healthy and well, and settling in at home,” Harry and Meghan said in a statement posted to their Archewell website.
And according to People, one of Meghan’s friends says that she is in “good spirits and absolutely glowing.” And Lili seems to have arrived just in time. The source reports that Meghan was “just ready to have this baby.”
The birth of Lili seems to confirm to Harry and Meghan that they made the right choice to move to the U.S. “They’re so happy. This baby solidifies that they are creating roots here in the States,” the source says. “It’s like a clean slate – almost like a new beginning,”
After these hectic and chaotic years, a “new beginning” sounds pretty good right about now!
Now that the tough work of raising an infant begins, Page Six reports that Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland is “overjoyed to welcome her new granddaughter” and is helping take care of her at Meghan and Harry’s $14.65 million Montecito mansion.
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Lili’s birth date has a special connection to Princess Diana
Even couples as wealthy and famous as Harry and Meghan can’t control the exact date of when their child is born. Nonetheless, fans of this couple quickly noticed something significant about the day that Lili was born.
Lili was born on June 4, 2021. That date is significant because exactly 25 years earlier, on June 4, 1996, Princess Diana visited Northwestern University, the very same college that Meghan Markle later graduated from!
Obviously, this is something of a cosmic coincidence. But some have waxed philosophic about the significance of this date and how it means that the couple was always destined to find each other.
What does Lili look like?
You might have noticed that we’ve included photos of Archie instead of Lili for this piece. That is because as of this writing, Harry and Meghan have not released any photos of Lili to the public!
When their son Archie was born, Harry and Meghan followed family tradition and presented him from Windsor Castle. Archie was only two days old when his face was broadcast to every corner of the world.
Now that Harry and Meghan live in the U.S., though, there is no need to follow royal protocol. They haven’t released any photos, but a source close to the family told Us Weekly that Lili is “absolutely beautiful.” And unsurprisingly, she looks like “a cross between Harry and Meghan.”
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How Prince Charles and Thomas Markle reacted to the birth of Lili
It’s only natural to wonder how Lili’s grandfathers feel about her birth. After all, Harry has had a very tense relationship with Prince Charles since “Megxit.” And Meghan’s estranged father Thomas Markle has been the source of multiple major scandals.
After Lili’s birth announcement, Prince Charles’s public response kept things pretty simple by posting an old photo of Harry, Meghan, and Archie to his Clarence House Instagram.
“Congratulations to Harry, Meghan, and Archie on the arrival of baby Lilibet Diana,” he wrote, alongside an unexpectedly playful confetti emoji. “Wishing them all well at this time.”
Meanwhile, Meghan’s father Thomas Markle sent his congratulations via The Daily Mail. “I am very pleased with the announcement of the safe and healthy delivery of my new granddaughter, and I wish her and her mother all my love and best wishes,” he said.
In a trailer for his interview with 60 Minutes Australia on June 13, he revealed Meghan has not spoken to him since two days before the Royal Wedding, and he had to learn about the birth of Lili on the radio.
Meghan previously told Oprah that she felt betrayed by her father for lying to her about speaking to the press.
William and Kate’s message for Harry and Meghan
Speaking of contentious family relationships, there has seemingly been friction between Harry and Meghan and Prince William and Kate since before Megxit. That leads to a natural question: how did William and Kate react to the birth of Lili?
William and Kate offered their congratulations through Instagram. There, they posted an old maternity shoot photo of Archie with this message: “We are all delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili. Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie.”
Leave it to the Royal Family to keep things short and to the point!
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Harry is taking a five-month paternity leave
Harry and Meghan know all about the importance of spending time with a new baby. Because of this, Harry will be taking five months of paternity leave from Archewell to spend extra time with Lili.
Simply by taking paternity leave, Harry sets himself apart from the pack. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, only nine percent of U.S. companies offer any kind of paternity leave. And 76 percent of all fathers are back to work within a week of their child being born.
Meghan is also taking five months of maternity leave from Archewell. But this isn’t special treatment just because they are the heads of their foundation. In fact, this is the same amount of parental leave that Harry and Meghan offer to all of their Archewell employees.
How does Archie feel about having a sister?
Right now, the focus is on newborn Lili. However, Harry and Meghan have a two-year-old son, Archie, currently toddling around the house. So how does Archie feel about having a new sister?
A family friend told People that Archie is both happy and confused. On one hand, he is “very happy to have a little sister.” On the other hand, “he is too little to understand” much of what Harry and Meghan told him to prepare for Lili’s arrival.
In time, though, Archie is likely to appreciate having a sibling.
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How close in line is Lili to the throne?
Whenever a new royal baby is born, people have the same question: how close is the child to the throne?
Lili is the 11th great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth. But she’s eighth in the line of royal succession, following Prince Charles; Prince William; William’s children George, Charlotte, and Louis; Prince Harry; and her older brother Archie. While being seventh and eighth in line may sound relatively close to the throne, neither Archie nor Lili is likely to ever serve as the king or queen of England.
However, Archie and Lili automatically became dual citizens of the U.S. and U.K. at birth, thanks to each of their parents’ citizenship. This means, in theory, they could one day be President of the United States while also being in line to the British Crown. Imagine that!