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Queen Elizabeth has met Lilibet, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 1-year-old daughter, who was named after her.
The meeting took place at Windsor Castle, where the couple and their family were invited to lunch with the Queen on Thursday after attending the official birthday celebrations for the Queen called Trooping the Colour.
Omid Scobie, the author who is believed to be close to the Sussexes, told the BBC the meeting took place.
Scobie co-authored the book Finding Freedom, for which he was briefed privately from Meghan’s office when she was still a member of the royal family.
The Daily Mail reported that he told the BBC: “I think people are expecting some sort of big extravagant birthday event that we’re going to see photos of. We shouldn’t expect anything from what I’ve been told.
“These moments with Lilibet are very private between you and the Queen and of course we know how much she was looking forward to it.
“They have been held back by a pandemic. Of course, the times Harry was here, he was only alone for rather somber occasions. And that was really the first time.
“Of course we know the Queen returned to Windsor Castle yesterday, the couple also returned to Windsor where they are staying at Frogmore Cottage. So that would have been the first moment or chance for her to meet her namesake.”
The revelation that the Queen has met Lilibet privately will mark a symbolically important chance to heal one of the most significant and public wounds to develop between California and London since the couple left royal life in 2020.
The problem surrounding Lilibet was particularly acute because the couple originally indicated they had obtained the Queen’s permission to use the name for their daughter – it’s a version of Elizabeth, which was the Queen’s nickname when she was a child was. It was also the name her late husband Prince Philip used to affectionately refer to her. However, the Queen’s Office later told the BBC that the Queen did not know in advance that the child would be called that.
The royal family, like the Sussexes, are hoping the meeting will now put an end to such stubborn concerns.
The revelation came on Friday morning, the second day of the centenary celebrations, which were overshadowed by the Queen’s announcement on Thursday night that she would not be attending a Thanksgiving service in her honor at St Paul’s Cathedral today because she had suffered discomfort during the yesterday’s celebrations. Although the rest of the royal family and Sussexes are expected to attend, Prince Andrew, the Queen’s disgraced middle son, has also withdrawn citing the coronavirus.