Susie O’Brien: Stealing Queen’s pet name Sussexes’ most misguided move yet

Prince Harry says he choose the name Lilibet in honour of his grandmother, but the move calculated manoeuvre to gain favour is his most misguided yet.

What more can Prince Harry do to offend his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth?

First, he accused her family members of being racists who refused to help his wife Meghan when she was suicidal.

Then he talked of his “genetic pain” of being born a royal.

Then he and Meghan stole the Queen’s beloved pet name, Lilibet, for their new baby daughter. Less controversially they picked Diana as a middle name after Harry’s late mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

No doubt the choice of Lilibet was prompted by a desire to mend bridges. But it feels like Harry and Meghan’s most misguided move yet.

Personal, affectionate names such as this are not normally adopted by other members of a family in a bid to curry favour or make a statement to the outside world.

A nickname is a personal term of endearment used only by the closest of friends and family – this doesn’t include those who use global TV interviews to trash their relatives.

One of the few people who still used the name Lilibet was the Queen’s husband Philip, who died in April.

Some say the choice of name is an “olive branch” to the Royal family and a way to show the couple still feel connected.

This may be true, but it’s also a way for them to demonstrate they’re still members of the family despite anything they say or do.

The Duke of Sussex and Duchess of Sussex named their baby girl Lilibet.

Regardless, a better way for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to get back on side with the Queen would be to stop giving teary tell-all interviews full of self-pity, venom and spite.

The choice of the names also further undermines the couple’s bid for privacy for their children.

If you want your daughter to live a private life as a civilian rather than a royal, then why would you call her after two of the most famous women in Britain?

It seems quite an onerous burden for a newborn baby to carry.

A row is also under way over whether the couple first asked the Queen for permission.

Drawing on a palace source, the BBC reported they had informed the Queen but did not ask for her consent. Within 90 minutes Harry issued a writ calling the allegation defamatory, but the palace has so far declined to step in and clarify the issue.

The couple no doubt spoke to the Queen, but it’s possible she may not have felt able to object for fear of ending up the subject of yet more damaging global headlines.

As Harry and Meghan are embroiled in yet another row of their own making, busy issuing writs and rowing with the media, the real royals are getting on with the job of representing Britain on the world stage for the G7 in Cornwall.

Harry says he chose the name in honour of his grandmother.

But why not make it Elizabeth, which he and Meghan could have shortened to Lili if they wanted to?

The couple no doubt spoke to the Queen, but it’s possible she may not have felt able to object.

There is a longstanding tradition for new babies in the royal family to be named after senior members. Princess Charlotte, Kate and William’s daughter, also has Diana and Elizabeth as middle names. But the latest royal baby would be the first with Elizabeth as a first name – a nice mark of respect rather than a showy bid for attention.

We shouldn’t be surprised, however, that Harry and Meghan are doing things their own way.

The couple is on an impressive five months of paid parental leave even though neither appear to have actual jobs.

They have yet to release a photo of their daughter and they took two days after she was born to tell anyone.

If the couple really want to endear themselves to Britain and the royals, then releasing some photos would be a good first step.

Whether they like it or not, they can’t escape the fact that the new arrival, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, is the Queen’s 11th great-grandchild and is eighth in line to the throne.

Instead, the couple are continuing their preaching ways, asking through their biographer Omid Scobie for anyone wishing to send a present to instead “support or learn more” about organisations working for women and girls.

Yawn. Haven’t they worked out by now that people don’t want an entitled, privileged couple to tell the rest of us what to think and feel?

Of course, this lovely baby girl’s birth has led to another blessing – it’s further pushed Prince Andrew down the chain of succession.

Susie O’Brien is a Herald Sun columnist