The Queen Is "Delighted" About Harry And Meghan's Daughter, Who's Named After Her

Queen Elizabeth is welcoming her new namesake. On Sunday, June 6, news broke that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had welcomed their second child, a baby girl named Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. In a statement, the Queen said she was “delighted” about Harry and Meghan’s daughter, who’s named after her.

Due to the Queen’s age and the fact that her new great-granddaughter was born in California instead of England, she probably won’t be meeting the family’s newest bundle of joy super soon. But according to a Buckingham Palace spokesperson, she had plenty of warm words for baby Lili nonetheless.

“The Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed and are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex,” the statement reads.

In their own statement announcing their new baby, Harry and Meghan noted that Lili is “named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet.” To recap: The queen first got the nickname when she couldn’t pronounce her full name, Elizabeth, as a little girl. The nickname has persisted throughout her life, and her late husband Prince Philip often used it as a term of endearment in his many letters to her. The Queen honored that tradition at his funeral in April 2021, where she addressed her final letter to him from “Lilibet,” instead of Elizabeth.

Of course, Lili’s name honors multiple women in Harry’s life: Her middle name, Diana is a tribute to his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

It’s no secret that Harry and Meghan have distanced themselves from the royal family after officially exiting Buckingham Palace in 2020. In a particularly heartbreaking moment from the couple’s March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan even revealed that some family members had expressed concern over Archie’s skin color during her first pregnancy.

But even though the Queen is the head of the British monarchy, the Duke and Duchess certainly seem on good terms with her. After the interview, Harry asked Winfrey to clarify that his grandmother and grandfather were not involved in any of those conversations about Archie.

During the interview itself, Meghan stated that the Queen has always been “wonderful” to her. “My grandmother and I have a really good relationship and a good understanding,” Harry said, adding, “I have spoken more with my grandmother in the last year than I have done in many, many years.” Here’s to both Lilibets!