The late Queen was left “thrilled” by her great-granddaughter Princess Lilibet during their one and only meeting, a royal author has claimed.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle brought Lili and her older brother Prince Archie, now six, to the UK for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022, in honour of her 70 years on the throne.
Little is known about the family meeting, which took place only a few months before the Queen’s death. However, an exciting new book about the monarch by Robert Hardman, Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. Her Story, has shed some light on it.
The royal biographer describes how the Queen was enchanted by an adorable one-year-old Lilibet, who “crawled around” the floor by her feet.
He writes, “The Queen would finally get to meet Lilibet and was thrilled, say friends, as the 1-year-old crawled around her feet.”
Red-haired Princess Lilibet makes a rare appearance
Lilibet Diana, now aged four, was born in June 2021 and lives in the US. Her name is a tribute to the Queen’s childhood nickname, which was only used by those in her closest circles.
The Queen’s relationship with Archie and Lilibet
In his 2023 memoir, Spare, Prince Harry recalled the family visit after his grandmother passed away in September 2022 at Balmoral Castle, aged 96. He said that his children had left his grandmother “bemused”.
© GettyThe Queen met Archie and Lili during her Platinum Jubilee in 2022
He wrote: “I also couldn’t stop picturing [the children] with Granny. The final visit. Archie making deep, chivalrous bows, his baby sister Lilibet cuddling the monarch’s shins,” he wrote.
“Sweetest children, Granny said, sounding bemused. She’d expected them to be a bit more…American, I think? Meaning, in her mind, more rambunctious.”
© ABC / Meghan MarkleArchie and Lilibet live in the US
However, in his 2024 book, Charles III: New King, New Court. The Inside Story, Robert Hardman claimed that a member of staff reported that the late monarch was “as angry as I’d ever seen her” after Harry and Meghan claimed they’d received her blessing to name their daughter Lilibet.
The Queen’s final wish for her great-grandchildren
The Queen had one final wish for her 12 great-grandchildren, Robert Hardman also revealed. The author claims that the Queen hoped to invite her great-grandchildren to her beloved residence in Scotland in the summer before she died, to leave them all with a “really happy memory”.
© Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II had 12 great-grandchildren
He writes: “The Queen wanted all the great-grandchildren to come up to Balmoral at some point over that summer, even if the Sussexes might not be able to make it. ‘She wanted to make sure that they all had a really happy memory of her,’ explained a friend of the family.”
The invitation included Prince William and Kate’s children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, Harry and Meghan’s children, were also invited.
Her other great-grandchildren are Savannah Phillips and Isla Phillips, the children of Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly; Zara and Mike Tindall’s children, Mia, Lena and Lucas; and Sienna (Princess Beatrice’s daughter) and August (Princess Eugenie’s son). Princess Beatrice’s daughter, Athena, and Princess Eugenie’s second son, Ernest, were born after the Queen’s death.