The naming of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's baby daughter has triggered an almighty row. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their daughter on Friday morning but only announced the birth on Sunday.
They raised even more eyebrows after they revealed that the new baby would be named Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, after the Queen and Harry's mother Diana.
Royal fans immediately questioned whether the couple had asked the Queen for permission to name their baby after her childhood nickname.
Sources close to the couple suggested they did ask for consent, before a bombshell BBC report quoting a senior Buckingham Palace aide on Wednesday morning claimed the Queen was 'never asked'.
Here, we look at the extraordinary briefing war that has unfolded since the birth of Lilibet:
Friday
11.40am (US time): Meghan gives birth in California. It is her and Prince Harry's second child and first daughter.
Sunday
5pm: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's press secretary announces Meghan's birth and reveals she is named Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor
10pm: The Times front page reports that the Queen was informed by Harry that Lilibet would be named after her.
Other organisations, including the BBC, carry quotes from a Harry and Meghan source suggesting the couple asked the Queen's permission on the name Lilibet.
Elsewhere, the BBC said a source close to the Sussexes told the corporation that Harry had spoken to the Queen before the birth and 'would have mentioned the name'.
Monday
10am: People Magazine reports that Harry and Meghan told the Queen about the birth of Lilibet two days before their public announcement.
10am: Page Six reports that Prince Harry rang the Queen and asked for permission to name the new baby Lilibet before she was born.
Another source said however: 'It will have likely been a call saying that she's arrived and we'd plan to name her after you - it's not really something one can say no to. I doubt they asked - more likely informed.'
4pm: Vanity Fair quotes a friend of Prince Harry's saying that they sought the Queen's blessing before naming his daughter after her.
8pm: Royal expert Russell Myers said Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did not seek formal permission from the Queen, but did ask for her blessing.
Tuesday
1pm: People Magazine reports that Harry and Meghan introduced the Queen to Lilibet on a video call. Report said the couple 'were very excited and couldn't wait to share that their daughter arrived'.
Today
6.30am: BBC Radio 4's Today programme quotes a Buckingham Palace source saying that Harry and Meghan didn't ask permission from the Queen to use the name 'Lilibet'.
BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond claimed to be told by a Palace source that Harry and Meghan 'never asked' the Queen for consent.
8am: Harry and Meghan's biographer Omid Scobie hit back at the BBC report. He quoted a Sussex source saying the Queen was 'the first family Harry called after Lilibet's birth and during that conversation, he shared the couple's hope of naming their daughter in her honour'
Mr Scobie said: 'A Sussex source says that the Queen was the first family Harry called after Lilibet's birth and during that conversation, he shared the couple's hope of naming their daughter in her honor. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.
'Those close to Prince Harry confirm that he spoke to close family before the announcement so perhaps this report highlights just how far removed aides within the institution (who learned of the baby news alongside the rest of the world) now are from the Sussexes' private matters.'
9am: A palace source tells ITV News that they are not denying the BBC's report this morning
11am: Prince Harry threatens the BBC with legal action over the story.
A spokesman for Harry and Meghan, now based in California, insisted that the BBC report was wholly wrong: He said: 'The Duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement, in fact his grandmother was the first family member he called.
'During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.'
11.30am - The BBC amends its report though the article still says that the Queen was not asked about the name of the baby.
Mr Dymond's tweets citing a Buckingham Palace source also still remain up.
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿
Thank you for your comments♥