Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Name Daughter In Honor of Diana and the Queen
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced that they welcomed their daughter, Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor earlier this week. Despite the ongoing tabloid storyline of family drama, the child’s name is in honor to the two most important women in Harry’s family. Diana, of course, is the name of Harry’s late mother Diana, Princess of Wales. Lilibet is a family nickname for Queen Elizabeth II. The name was inspired by the way the young future queen first said her own name before learning its correct pronunciation. Though, the pronunciation stuck amongst her close family.
The Mountbatten-Windsor surname, which their son Archie also uses, is the personal surname used by many members of the royal family and is itself a combination of the royal houses of the Queen and the late Prince Philip. Harry’s cousins James and Louise, the children of Prince Edward, also use the surname in all matters.
Lili is not the first royal child whose name honors both Diana and the Queen. Prince William and Kate Middleton named their own daughter Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.
According to Variety, Lili was born at 11:40 a.m. on Friday, June 4 at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California.
"This is the second child for the couple, who also have a two-year-old son named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor,” read a statement from the couple’s representatives. “The Duke and Duchess thank you for your warm wishes and prayers as they enjoy this special time as a family."
However, Lili is the first of Queen Elizabeth’s direct descendants to be born outside of the United Kingdom. She is the eleventh of Queen Elizabeth’s great-grandchildren. Upon birth, she became eighth in the line of succession to the throne, replacing Prince Andrew in the eighth spot. Though, Lili herself would fall further down the line of succession should Prince William have any more children, or when any of his current children grow up and start their own families.
