Prince Harry and Meghan clash with BBC over story about naming of daughter Lilibet
- An article on the BBC’s website claimed palace sources had said the queen was not asked by the duke and duchess about naming their daughter Lilibet
- It was reported that Harry and Meghan did consult the queen before the name of their baby, who was born in California on Friday, was announced
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have clashed with the BBC over the version of events that led to the naming of their daughter.
Harry and Meghan's lawyers have written to the corporation after a BBC story claimed the queen had not been asked about naming their baby Lilibet, which was the monarch's childhood family nickname.
It has been widely reported that Harry and Meghan did consult the queen before the name of their baby, who was born in California on Friday, was announced.
But an article on the BBC’s website claimed palace sources had said the queen was not asked by the duke and duchess about naming their daughter Lilibet.
A spokeswoman for the couple said their daughter's name was mentioned in a conversation with the queen. She 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.”
The Times newspaper reported the couple's lawyers Schillings have sent a letter to the BBC warning the story is “false and defamatory.”
The story by one of the BBC's royal correspondents remains on the corporation's website. Buckingham Palace has declined to comment.
The row comes just a few weeks after Lord Dyson's report into the 1995 Panorama interview with Harry’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
It concluded that journalist Martin Bashir used “deceitful behaviour” to land the world exclusive and an internal BBC investigation a year later had covered it up.
Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, a younger sister for the Sussexes’ two-year-old son Archie, was born on Friday at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California.
