Prince Harry and Meghan Markle welcomed their second child – a baby girl – last Friday, announcing her birth on Sunday.
In a statement released by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, they announced the “great joy” of welcoming their newborn, also revealing her name.
As a tribute to both the Queen and Prince Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana, the little one is named after both of them – Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
It’s widely known that Lilibet is the nickname family members call Queen Elizabeth II, but how exactly did the nickname come about?
It’s believed to have come from her struggle to pronounce Elizabeth when she was young, pronouncing it as ‘Lilibet’. Thus, this became her nickname and it stuck within the royal family.
Her Majesty was fondly called Lilibet by her late husband, Prince Philip, who recently passed away, as well as her late grandmother, Queen Mary. It’s also known that the Queen signed old family letters with the moniker.
It is believed that Harry and Meghan would have asked permission from Her Majesty to use her nickname for their newborn prior to announcing the news to the world.
Baby girl Lilibet’s middle name, Diana, is a tribute to Harry’s mother the late Princess Diana, just as Prince William and Kate, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge did when naming their daughter Princess Charlotte, whose middle name is also Diana.
In the statement announcing the birth of Lilibet, it was revealed Meghan gave birth at 11.40am on Friday, June 4 “in the trusted care of the doctors and staff at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, CA”.
Lilibet, the second child of Prince Harry and Megan, is eight in line for the throne after her elder brother Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor who is seventh in line.
