Kay also speculated whether Harry would have made the same choice had Prince Philip still been alive, as he had been the only family member permitted to use that name. He noted that royal courtiers likely felt discomfort at what seemed another break from tradition by the Sussexes.

Angela Levin echoed the sentiment, telling Good Morning Britain that the Queen may have been offended. “It was a very private nickname,” she said, adding that even Charles never used it. She called the choice “demeaning.”

Lilibet met some members of her British family a year after her birth. Her first birthday was celebrated at Frogmore Cottage, which remained Harry and Meghan’s UK home until recently. The couple received a birthday cake, as shown in their Netflix documentary. While William and Kate were reportedly invited in a gesture of goodwill, they didn’t attend. Queen Elizabeth did make a quiet appearance, but no photos were released.

According to The Sun, Harry and Meghan had hoped to capture a photo of the Queen with her great-granddaughter. However, royal expert Camilla Tominey wrote that Elizabeth declined, citing a bloodshot eye and a wish to avoid public images from what she considered a private moment.

Royal author Tom Quinn, in Guilded Youth: An Intimate History of Growing Up in the Royal Family, criticized the decision, stating Harry “surely would have known” that using the Queen’s personal nickname might be seen as “disrespectful and intrusive.” He noted that naming their daughter Elizabeth wouldn’t have stirred the same controversy.

Quinn argued that some experts viewed the name as a calculated move to boost the couple’s “royal currency,” despite their departure from royal life. Though biographer Gyles Brandreth claimed the Queen was “touched” by the name choice, she never publicly shared her thoughts on it.

Quinn suggested the issue reflected deeper cultural differences. “Meghan would never have thought naming her daughter Lilibet was anything other than a huge compliment; in the UK, it looks like an impertinence,” he said. “This is emblematic of many of Meghan’s difficulties.”