Unpacking the Lilibet Drama

The Sussexes are hoisted by their own petard

Hello Dear Readers!

In case you missed it, I split the newsletter this week into two parts. This is the second. The first part was released today at 11:15 AM. This is the second part. If you missed the first newsletter, tap the story below to read.

Now, onto the most eye-grabbing headline from the book: The revelation that Queen Elizabeth did not give permission for Harry and Meghan to name their daughter Lilibet:

Indeed, in Robert Hardman’s new biography, Charles III: New King, New Court, one member of her staff is quoted as saying that the monarch was “as angry as I’d ever seen her” after the Duke and Duchess publicly stated they would not have used her private family nickname if she had not been “supportive”.

The late monarch was so upset at the naming choice that she told aides: “I don't own the palaces, I don't own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name. And now they've taken that.”

This is all very heavy, sad stuff if true.

The chatter online ranges from accusing British tabloids of bullying a two year old (who knew toddlers could read) to flights of fancy from online bloggers claiming the Queen did in fact give permission. But, and here comes the surprise, she hid this from her aides because she hates the Men in gray and wanted to move to Montecito and live with Harry and Meghan instead. We don’t operate in absurdity here at HRH Royal Tea, we go off of publicly available information. As a history major, I can’t help myself. On this topic, much has been said and more has occurred than you might remember.

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Simply put, there are individuals willfully misrepresenting the story about the name Lilibet. This isn’t about the name (whatever was thought about it). The reported anger is about the Sussexes releasing a public statement saying things Queen Elizabeth had never said. It’s about them misrepresenting and misrepresenting her thoughts on her name. The problem is the half-truths and distortions are coming back to bite the Sussexes in the behind. As usual, it’s imperative to start from the very beginning to understand how we got here.

This was one of the most fun newsletters to write. Before I hit publish, sources close to the Sussexes today hit back via an exclusive Us Weekly that naturally contradicts what they’ve stated publicly before. I hope you all enjoy this analysis:

It all started with Harry and Meghan announcing the name of their daughter on June 6th 2021: