THE Queen was “not asked but informed” by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to name their baby Lilibet, a royal expert says.
Gyles Brandreth joined a heated debate on Good Morning Britain after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex hit back at a Palace source who claimed they didn’t ask Her Majesty permission to use her childhood nickname.
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GMB host Susanna Reid asked Gyles: “Why are they both now rowing over the name of the baby?”
The author of Philip: The Final Portrait replied: “This should be a storm in a teacup. The dispute is this.
“Was the Queen asked by Harry and Meghan whether they could call their child Lilibet or was she told? Either way she obviously agreed because she is a decent and loving grandmother.
“The Palace seem to be saying she was told, Harry and Meghan’s spokesperson seems to be saying she was asked.
“Harry and Meghan were not happy with the BBC suggesting that they have gone ahead and done this out of the Queen’s consent and indeed have asked their solicitors to come down with a heavy hand on them.”
He continued: “It is a shame. It is so sad this has come about. The Queen was not asked.”
Gyles said it was doubly disappointing because of today’s date, saying: “It is a sad thing to be happening today because June 10 is the centenary of the birth of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh.”
He went on to claim that Prince Philip, who died on April 9, had been “heartbroken that the royal family had turned into a soap opera”.
Gyles added: “He also regretted members of the royal family giving personal interviews. He felt [that] no good ever comes of it.
“I said to him, ‘But you were the first member of the royal family to give an interview on television in the 1950s for the BBC and later to things like Wogan’.
“But he said, ‘That was about what I did, my work, never about me as a person’.”
‘NEVER ASKED’
A Palace source told the BBC the Queen was “never asked” about the use of her pet name Lilibet.
But Harry and Meghan’s official spokesperson said the couple did call the monarch, and she was the “first person they called”.
They did not, however, follow formal royal protocol in asking written permission for use of the name.
Their spokesperson said: “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 honor.
“Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.”
Some commentators have suggested Lili’s name was meant to be an “olive branch” as the Sussexes try to heal the wounds they have created in repeated attacks on the Royals.
But others have said if they have taken such a personal pet name – used only by the Queen’s father King George VI, her beloved late husband Philip and a few other close friends – without bothering to ask permission, it may be seen as an insult rather than a compliment.
Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, whose middle name was given in memory of her grandmother Princess Diana, arrived at 11.40am on Friday in California.
A statement published on their Archewell website said: “On June 4, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili.
“She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we’ve felt from across the globe.
“Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family.”
