Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have plunged the Royal Family into crisis in recent months following their explosive sit-down with Oprah Winfrey.
And while royal enthusiasts remain hopeful the Windsors will one day make amends, a telling clue in the family’s response to the Sussexes’ baby news suggests a reconciliation isn’t on the cards.
Australian TV presenter Lisa Wilkinson pointed out on Monday that certain royals phrased their congratulatory messages to Harry and Meghan differently.
Did you notice it? Australian TV presenter Lisa Wilkinson, 61, (left) has pointed out a VERY telling detail in the royal family’s reactions to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s (both right) baby news
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their daughter, Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, was born on Friday in California.
Lisa observed that the Cambridges didn’t use Harry and Meghan’s royal titles when acknowledging Lilibet’s birth, and neither did Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. Harry’s grandmother The Queen did refer to their titles, however.
This omission comes amid a wider discussion about whether or not the Sussexes should relinquish their titles in light of their relentless criticism of the Royal Family.
‘Can’t help noticing that neither the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, nor Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, used Harry and Meghan’s royal titles in the messages of congrats on the birth of baby Lilibet,’ The Project host, 61, tweeted.
She added: ‘The Queen – after whom the baby is named – was the only one that did.’
Omitting Harry and Meghan’s royal titles could be interpreted as a subtle hint they are no longer considered part of the Royal Family.
‘Can’t help noticing’: Lisa Tweeted on Monday that there was a noticeable difference between the way certain members of the royal family publicly congratulated Harry and Meghan on the arrival of their daughter Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor
Indeed, Prince William and Kate Middleton referred to the Sussexes by their first names in an official congratulations message on Instagram.
They wrote: ‘We are all delighted by he happy news of the arrival of baby Lili. Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie.’
Harry’s father, Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles, similarly failed to use the Sussexes’ royal titles in their message.
‘Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie on the arrival of baby Lilibet Diana,’ they wrote on social media.
The Queen, however, did refer to the couple as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in her official statement, perhaps subtly indicating their relationship remains intact.
First names: Prince William and Kate Middleton (both pictured) referred to the Sussexes by their first names in an official congratulations message on Instagram
Message: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wrote on Instagram: ‘We are all delighted by he happy news of the arrival of baby Lili. Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie’
No royal title: Harry’s father Prince Charles and wife Camilla Parker-Bowles similarly failed to use the Sussex’s royal titles in their congratulatory message
Indeed, in the Sussexes’ recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry spoke of his respect for his grandmother.
Meghan also said: ‘The Queen… has always been wonderful to me.’
The Duke and Duchess Sussex plunged the royal family into crisis with the televised interview in March, when they accused an unnamed royal of making a racist remark about their son Archie’s skin tone and claimed Harry’s family failed to help Meghan when she was suicidal.
Last month, Harry also suggested in the Apple TV+ docuseries The Me You Don’t See that his father had allowed his children to ‘suffer’ when it came to the media because of his own negative experience growing up in the Royal Family.
Telling detail: The Queen, however, did refer to the couple as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in her official statement, perhaps subtly indicating that their relationship remains intact
Praise: Indeed, in the Sussex’s recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry spoke of his respect for his grandmother, while Meghan said: ‘The Queen… has always been wonderful to me’
Sweet family nickname for Queen that inspired Harry and Meghan’s name for their baby daughter
Lilibet – the Queen’s family nickname – was first used when Princess Elizabeth was just a toddler and unable to pronounce her own name properly.
Her grandfather King George V would affectionately call her ‘Lilibet’, imitating her own attempts to say Elizabeth.
The sweet nickname stuck and she became Lilibet to her family from then on.
The Duke of Edinburgh also referred to his wife as Lilibet, writing to his mother in law after their wedding: ‘Lilibet is the only ‘thing’ in the world which is absolutely real to me.’
Harry and Meghan’s new baby daughter – the Queen’s 11th great-grandchild – will be known as Lili. A variation on Lily, the flower is often seen to symbolise purity, commitment, rebirth and fertility.
Lili’s middle name Diana honours Harry’s later mother Diana, Princess of Wales. It is no surprise the couple chose to pay tribute to Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997 when Harry was just 12.
Lili has been born almost a month before the princess would have celebrated her 60th birthday on July 1. Her cousin Princess Charlotte also has Diana as one of her middle names, as well as Elizabeth. She is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.
Harry and the Duke of Cambridge are due to unveil a statue of their mother at Kensington Palace on her birthday, but the arrangements have yet to be confirmed, amid a long-reported rift between the brothers.
The Sussexes’ tribute to the Queen is likely to be seen as an olive branch to the monarch and the rest of the family.
Pictured: Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California where Lilibet was born. The hospital is a private facility where births cost up to $37,000.
Harry and Meghan plunged the Windsors into crisis with their Oprah Winfrey interview in March when they accused an unnamed royal of making a racist remark about their son Archie’s skin tone before he was born.
They also said the institution failed to help Meghan when she was suicidal. But during the televised interview with Winfrey, the Sussexes lauded the Queen.
Harry spoke of his respect for his grandmother, while Meghan said: ‘The Queen… has always been wonderful to me.’
On Sunday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their daughter’s arrival.
‘On June 4, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili,’ they said.
‘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.’
Lili, who is eighth in line to the throne, was born in Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, a private facility where births cost up to $37,000.
Welcome to the world, Lili: On Sunday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their daughter’s arrival. ‘On June 4, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili,’ they said