Haslam adds to mystery of Harrynaming baby ‘Lilibet’
MYSTERY has surrounded the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to call their daughter Lilibet since the BBC’s royal correspondent, Jonny Dymond, claimed last year that they did not ask the Queen if they could use her family pet name.
In response, Prince Harry and Meghan launched an unprecedented legal attack on the BBC, saying the story was ‘ false and defamatory’.
Their spokesman 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 honour.
‘Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.’
Now, a friend of the royals has added to the mystery of what they did or didn’t say in their telephone conversation with the monarch.
Interior designer Nicky Haslam, whose royal pals include everyone from the Duchess of Cornwall to Prince Michael of Kent, claims the Queen had been under the impression that the child, who was born last June, would be named Elizabeth — and was taken aback to discover that the couple had, in fact, called her Lilibet.
Says Haslam: ‘ I heard he [Harry] rang her and said: “We want to call our daughter after you, Granny”. She said: “How charming of you, thank you”, thinking that it would be Elizabeth.
‘So they got the permission, but they didn’t say the name.’
What Haslam, 82, heard may, of course, be inaccurate, and we may never know where the truth lies.
Lilibet has important sentimental connotations for the Queen because it was the name used in private for her by her father, George VI, and by her late husband, Prince Philip.
Speaking on The Third Act podcast, Haslam goes on to question why Harry and Meghan didn’t name the baby after the American former actress’s mother instead.
‘Why on earth didn’t they call that baby Doria?’ he asks. ‘It’s the prettiest name ever.’
A spokesman for the Sussexes did not comment, more than three days after I asked them about Haslam’s claims.