Royal expert explains real controversy over Harry and Meghan naming daughter Lilibet

Lilibet-gate continues.

A royal aide alleges in the new biography “Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story,” by Robert Hardman, that the late monarch was “as angry as I’d ever seen her” after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle publicly stated that they had received approval to use her childhood moniker as the name of their daughter.

“I think it depends on how you look at the story,” Hardman told the New York Post. “The thing about this particular episode, all the way along, has been that in a sense, both sides are right.

He stressed that the queen didn’t have a problem with sharing her name but rather the way the Sussexes publicly spoke of it.

“The issue was the handling,” he explained. “The issue was being told to say that she had given it her blessing when it had clearly been a case of, [she] had been informed.

Princess Lilibet, now 2, was given the queen’s childhood nickname. EPA Queen Elizabeth was reportedly fine with her name being used for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s daughter — but irked by the way it was handled. PA EMPICS/ABACAUSA.COM

“Her ringing endorsement was not sought, not given, and you don’t put words in the queen’s mouth. That’s effectively what was going on there.”

The BBC first reported that the monarch — who died in September 2022 at the age of 96 — was not asked by Meghan and Harry about the use of her childhood nickname.

However, royal sources told Page Six that Harry did call and speak to his grandmother after Markle gave birth at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. The couple were so enraged by the report that they instructed their lawyers to take action against the BBC.

The Sussexes also share a 4-year-old son Archie. Alexi Lubomirski / Duke and Duch

Another insider added, “It will have likely been a call saying that she’s arrived and we’d plan to name her after you — it’s not really something one can say no to. I doubt they asked — more likely informed.”

“It wasn’t the choice of name itself, which is I think how some people have presented it,” Hardman explained. “It was the fact that she was basically being asked to say she had given her blessing when it had been presented to her: ‘We’re doing this, what do you say?'”

The duo announced their now-2-year-old daughter’s name, Lilibet Diana, shortly after her arrival.

“Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet. Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honor her beloved late grandmother, The Princess of Wales,” they shared in a statement at the time.

Harry and Markle also share 4-year-old son Prince Archie.