PRINCESS Eugenie is likely the first royal to meet Harry and Meghan’s daughter Lilibet.
The 31-year-old flew from Windsor to California to visit the Sussexes after they dramatically ditched royal life two years ago.
Harry has made a handful of trips to the UK in that time, but he has always done so without his wife and children.
It means not even the Queen has met her great-granddaughter, with whom she shares a name.
But on Sunday night Eugenie was spotted making a surprise trip to see her cousin in the States.
The pair – who are famously very good pals – were snapped enjoying the Super Bowl in a private box at LA’s SoFi Stadium.
She is understood to be the first member of the Firm to make the 5,500-mile trip since the couple quit royal life in a bid for more privacy, highlighting their friendship.
And Eugenie is likely staying at Harry and Meghan’s multi-million dollar Montecito mansion, giving her the perfect opportunity to meet little Lilibet.
Meghan and Eugenie’s husband Jack Brooksbank were missing at the game, but they could well have stayed at home to look after the children.
The Duchess of Sussex was reported to have missed the match to be with two-year-old Archie and Lilibet, eight months, but sources claim she was joined by Jack and Eugenie’s son August, who played with his cousins as the Cincinnati Bengals took on the LA Rams, The Telegraph reports.
They also reckon Eugenie could be key to toning down Harry’s imminent memoir, which is expected to be just as explosive as his tell-all chat with Oprah Winfrey.
One commentator asked: “Could she act as an intermediary in the royal rift and tone down Harry’s forthcoming memoir?”
And royal author Phil Dampier said: “They’ve always got on very well and been very close so if there is going to be an emissary, or an intermediary, between Harry and the Royal Family back home, she could well fit the bill.
“I’m sure when they met in LA, they would have talked about the situation – and I’m sure she’ll be trying to smooth things over.
“She could be one of the ways whereby tentative steps could be taken to try and heal the rift.”
‘HEAL THE RIFT’
The Duke of Sussex has been secretly writing the book detailing life as a royal, timed for release during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
Publisher Penguin Random House said it was an “honest” and “intimate” autobiography – sparking fears of more revelations after his Oprah interview with Meghan accused the Firm of racism.
But if Eugenie helps keep the peace in the family, its ricochets could well be suppressed.
As the youngest children of their parents, she and Harry have always been close.
They grew up tight and it was later rumoured that Eugenie was among the first to know about Harry’s blossoming relationship with Meghan.
They later married at the same wedding venue – St George’s Chapel in Windsor, and the foursome also enjoyed a night out together in Toronto, disguised in Halloween costumes, the duchess told Ellen DeGeneres.
Royal biography Finding Freedom also claimed Eugenie and Jack’s visit to Lake Como in 2018 overlapped with the Sussexes’.
Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote: “Out of all the Queen’s grandchildren, Harry and Eugenie have one of the most natural connections.”
