Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s daughter Lilibet will celebrate her second Christmas this holiday season. The public hasn’t seen much of the two-year-old, as her parents have been highly restrictive concerning posting photos of their two children online.
Lilibet has visited the UK once, meeting the late Queen Elizabeth and her granddad King Charles. However, in the future, whether she will get the chance to meet her UK family regularly will most likely be decided by the reaction to her father’s memoir, which drops in January.
Harry and Meghan chose to give up their His & Her Royal Highness titles when they left the Royal Family. Yet on Lilibet’s birth certificate, the absolute truth of what they wish to refer to themselves as came out.
Put plainly, it seems like someone hasn’t been telling the truth …
On June 4, 2021, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced the fantastic news that their daughter, Lilibet, had been born. Royal enthusiasts will know that the girl is their second child, after Archie, born in 2019.
Lilibet – daughter o Harry & Meghan
A spokesperson for the couple at the time said: “It is with great joy that Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke, and Duchess of Sussex, welcome their daughter, Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, to the world.”
Naturally, people worldwide sent their congratulations to Harry and Meghan after Lilibet’s birth. That included the Royal Family and all of its members.
Prince William and Kate Middleton wrote: “We are all delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili. Congratulations to Harry, Meghan, and Archie.”
“I wish her all the very best. I can’t wait to meet her,” Kate Middleton said on the prospect of meeting Lilibet.
“We haven’t met her yet, so hopefully that will be soon.”
Sadly, things haven’t been all that simple. Lilibet finally got the chance to meet the Queen and the rest of her British family when she attended the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations earlier this year.
The festivities took place at the beginning of June in London, England, marking Queen Elizabeth’s incredible 70-year tenure on the British throne.
The Platinum Jubilee celebrations began on Thursday, June 2, with Trooping of the Colour – an event for which the Queen appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. There was then a Thanksgiving service the day after, though the Queen could not attend that because of the discomfort she felt the day before.
For the same reason, she had to cancel her planned appearance at the Epsom Derby on Saturday, June 4.
Lilibet’s first meeting with the Queen
Eventually, the Queen was forced to cancel several other events before sadly passing away in September.
Luckily for Lilibet, they had the chance to meet in person before that happened.
The rumor mill regarding Harry and Meghan’s attendance at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee had been up and running for months. Some speculated they wouldn’t show up, while others wondered if they’d even be invited.
In the end, Harry and Meghan did fly across the Atlantic Ocean to reunite with the former’s family.
As per reports, the couple kept a low profile, attending only a handful of events, including the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral. This marked the first time Harry and Meghan had appeared publicly in the UK since they stepped back from royal life.
However, the couple wasn’t welcome for the Trooping of the Color. As per the Queen’s request, only senior working royals were allowed a spot on the Buckingham Palace balcony to greet the gathered crowds.
According to The Times, Harry and Meghan instead sat in the Major General’s Office, where they watched the Trooping of the Colour alongside extended members of the Royal Family. It’s not clear whether Archie and Lilibet were with them.
What was clear is that no one – least of all the Queen – wanted the couple to become the center of attention. It was even suggested as the real reason why the Queen limited the Royal Family members permitted to stand on the balcony in the way she did.
First birthday in the UK
Though it may seem as if Harry and Meghan didn’t do much more than hurry from one place to the next while they were here, they reportedly got some private time with the Queen.
The pair’s children, Archie and Lilibet, had flown to the UK with them – it was the first time Lilibet had ever visited her father’s homeland. As per sources, on Saturday, June 4, her parents threw her a party to celebrate their daughter’s first birthday.
Harry and Meghan were said to have arranged a backyard picnic at Frogmore Cottage, their UK home. Their friend, Misan Harriman, released a wonderful picture of the little girl celebrating her birthday.
Harry and Meghan reportedly had a cake made by baker Claire Ptak for the birthday picnic. (She’s the same baker who made the cake for the couple’s wedding in 2018).
The picnic at Frogmore Cottage also marked the first time that Lilibet met her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, and her grandfather, Prince Charles.
Yet while they must have been pleased to finally meet Lilibet, no photos of them meeting her were released. As reported by The Sun, the Queen banned Harry and Meghan from having a photographer present.
“Harry and Meghan wanted their photographer to capture the moment Lilibet met the Queen,” an insider told The Sun. “But they were told no chance. It was a private family meeting.”
Queen refused to take a picture with Lilibet
According to royal expert Camilla Tominey, the Queen refused to take a photo with the little girl because she had a bloodshot eye. Tominey claims that the monarch did not want to be in any images that would be made public.
Tominey wrote in The Telegraph that Harry was rumored to have expressed his desire to get a photo between the two “at some point in the future.”
Reports claim that the only children attending the party were Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips – while their parents went to the Epsom Derby.
Neither Prince William nor Kate Middleton were in attendance.
“There was a bit of reluctance among the royals to admit to having any involvement in Lilibet’s birthday party,” Tominey wrote.
Instead of attending their niece’s first birthday party, William, Kate, and their three children traveled to Wales instead.
“William and Kate made no effort at all to introduce Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis to [Lili],” royal expert Christopher Andersen told US Weekly, adding that there is still “a lot of tension” between Harry and Meghan and William and Kate.
“As far as I know, nobody believes they spoke [to one another]” during the celebrations,” he claimed.
Harry & Meghan skips UK Christmas
This winter, Lilibet is set to celebrate the second Christmas of her life. Whether she’s met her cousins – Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis – is unknown. But Harry & Meghan reportedly had the opportunity to make that happen for the holiday seasons.
As reported by The Mirror, King Charles invited them to spend Christmas with the British Royal Family at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. However, Meghan Markle and Harry reportedly turned down the invite, as their relationship has hit “rock bottom.”
“This book could spell the end for any relationship Harry wants to have with his family, it’s desperately sad. Everyone is bracing themselves for yet another fraught and frantic period at the mercy of the Sussexes,” one insider claimed.
Moreover, King Charles is said to be ready to strip Harry and Meghan of all their titles if Harry’s upcoming memoir is indeed packed with disparaging revelations – which could also include topics related to the Sussexes’ children.
In January, Harry will release Spare, said to reveal new bombshells about the Royal Family. It’s not yet known exactly what will be included within its pages, but according to royal author Tom Bower, Harry’s book is “make or break” for the Firm.
“I imagine that King Charles has been warned that any retaliation won’t be pretty,” he said.
“All that King Charles can really do is to withhold the titles for his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet. Ultimately, I suppose, he could take away Harry and Meghan’s titles as well, but that’s pretty drastic.”
Secret on Lilibet birth certificate revealed
Harry and Meghan are still referred to as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. This is because those titles were given to them by the Queen on their wedding day and, therefore, not can be taken away. The only thing that could change that would be through an Act of Parliament, passed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
However, since Harry and Meghan have left the Royal Family, they’re no longer referred to by their His & Her Royal Highness titles. Interestingly, when Lilibet was born, however, something on her birth certificate doesn’t quite add up.
As reported by People, the baby’s birth certificate showed that Lilibet Diana was born on June 4 at 11:40 am in the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, not far from her parents’ Montecito home.
The birth certificate requires the parents’ legal names, and on Meghan’s, it said “Rachel Meghan Markle.” Harry had a first name, “The Duke of Sussex” – and a last name, “His Royal Highness,” despite him not having the title anymore.
As for when Archie was born, the Sussexess filled in the document quite differently.
Harry wrote his name as “His Royal Highness Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex,” and Meghan used the title “Rachel Meghan Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex.”
Moreover, the couple had to list their occupation, with Harry and Meghan writing “Prince” and “Princess of the United Kingdom.” That in itself is intriguing, since Meghan has never held the title of princess.
Meghan on parenting life in the US
While the royals continue with their everyday lives, including all the engagement and duties that come with it, Harry and Meghan are raising their two children in sunny California. The pair have said that it has been fantastic seeing their children grow and learn new things, though understandably, it has also been a demanding time.
In an episode of her podcast Archetypes, titled “Good Wife/Bad Wife, Good Mom/Bad Mom,” Meghan discussed the feelings of being a woman and a parent in the modern era.
“Part of the labels that we’re talking about… This idea of what it means to be a good mom, or like a Stepford Wife – all of these different archetypes where you feel this pressure to have to be a more or a wife or a partner in a certain way … and then the mom shaming that comes with it, often times… and I think it’s so interesting to hear your journey of that,” Meghan said.
Meghan described how she tries to “juggle” between her two young children in the morning, saying that Harry helps her to get the day started.
“You know, both monitors on for the kids to hear them, always up with Lili, get her downstairs, then a half hour later Archie’s up,” Markle explained. “Start doing his lunch box before he’s up while I have her, getting her a little nibble. My husband’s helping me get him downstairs. I make breakfast for all three of them. It’s very important to me. I love doing it,” she said.
Later in the podcast episode, Meghan described how her life changed forever with Lilibet’s birth.
Meghan wants Lilibet to be a woman “with a voice”
She said she would teach her daughter to be a “full-fledged interesting, curious, kind, strong, all the things, human being.” And also that she wants Lilibet to be a woman “with a voice.”
“Now I’m a mom of a daughter and whether I thought it was going to happen or not, it did – I see the world differently through how she’s going to see the world and how she’s going to look at certain women as role models,” Meghan said on her podcast Archetypes.
Meghan famously started her life in show business as a briefcase girl on the television show Deal or No Deal.
After landing more minor roles in films such as Get Him to the Greek and Remember Me, as well as the television series General Hospital, everything changed in 2011 when she landed the part of paralegal Rachel Zane on USA’s monster hit Suits.
Meghan became a star almost overnight. However, when she and Harry got married, the former actress ended her tenure on the show.
“They’re part of a legacy”
Over the years, we’ve seen countless children of actors and actresses going on to work in show business themselves. But what if Archie or Lilibet want to work in front of the camera? For her part, Meghan thinks it would be “great.”
“When you become a parent, you genuinely want your kids to find the things that bring them complete joy. They’re our kids, obviously, and they’re part of a legacy and a tradition and a family that will have other expectations,” she told Variety.
At the same time, however, Meghan knows there would be specific criticisms towards her if she helped her children get into show business.
“There are so many people that will talk about what opened the door for my children. But it still takes talent and a lot of grit,” she added.