Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are under fire for “burdening” their daughter Lilibet with her name.
Royal commentator Michael Cole joined Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster on GB News to discuss the late Queen Elizabeth II reportedly being left “furious” at claims made by the Sussexes.
Harry indicated in Spare that the Queen had given her blessing for Lilibet to go by the monarch’s private nickname.
But according to royal author Robert Hardman, the Queen was left “furious” by the suggestion.
Michael Cole criticised Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
GB NEWS / GETTY
Cole told GB News that their naming choice was a “naff” one as he delivered a scathing analysis of the matter.
“I didn’t think it was the right thing”, Cole said as he discussed the couple’s decision.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
“I think it’s very important when you’re giving a child a name that it should be a proper name.
“At one time, any self respecting priest or minister would refuse to name a child unless it was a proper recognised from the Bible or from an official source name.
“Lilibet is a nickname it is not a recognised name. Although I didn’t say so out loud, because you want to be kind about newly born babies, they were perhaps burdening their new baby daughter with something she didn’t need.”
Harry and Meghan said at the time they would not have used the name without the Queen’s blessing.
A spokesperson at the time said in a statement: "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."
In Hardman’s new biography, Charles III: New King, New Court, which is currently being serialised in the Daily Mail, the couple were “rebuffed” by Buckingham Palace aides as they sought support in “propping up” their version of events.
Writing in the serialised book, Hardman said: "One privately recalled that Elizabeth II had been 'as angry as I'd ever seen her' in 2021 after the Sussexes announced that she had given them her blessing to call their baby daughter 'Lilibet', the Queen's childhood nickname.
"The couple subsequently fired off warnings of legal action against anyone who dared to suggest otherwise, as the BBC had done.
“However, when the Sussexes tried to co-opt the Palace into propping up their version of events, they were rebuffed.”
