Queen keeps her first meeting with Lilibet a family affair

THE Queen refused to allow a private photographer to attend her first meeting with her great-granddaughter, Lilibet, during her Platinum Jubilee.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had travelled from California to attend the celebrations marking Her Majesty’s 70-year reign, bringing with them their two children, Archie and Lilibet.

Lilibet, who turned one on Saturday, was born in the US and had not been to the UK before last week. She met her great-grandmother, after whose family nickname she is named, for the first time at Windsor Castle on Thursday afternoon.

Her parents had hoped to take a photographer to record the meeting, but their request was turned down. It is understood that the occasion was considered to be a private family occasion. There were also fears the photos would end up on American television, according to The Sun. Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

The Duke and Duchess did not take their children to any public events over the extended Jubilee weekend and kept a low profile at last week’s Trooping the Colour and a service at St Paul’s Cathedral that was the couple’s first public royal appearance since they turned their backs on Britain two years ago.

On Monday, the Duke and Duchess released two photographs of Lilibet to mark her first birthday. They shared an image of her at Frogmore Cottage, their Windsor home, taken by Misan Harriman. The second, black-and-white photograph, also taken by Mr Harriman – and posted on Twitter – shows Lilibet being carried by her mother, posing alongside his own family.