6 enjoyable information you may not find out about Lilibet Diana
From their names to their place in the royal family, here’s everything you need to know about Prince Harry and Meghan’s baby.
“She is more than we could ever have imagined,” said Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in a June 4 statement when they announced that their daughter would be Lilibet “Lili” Diana, had arrived. The new parents of two gave each other two days to bask in their second baby before sharing their news with the world. And the excitement was real.
This was the first time many people heard the nickname Lilibet, pronounced Lily-bet, honoring the Queen (it was her nickname from her father and the name Prince Philip used during their 73-year marriage). Lili’s middle name pays homage to her late grandmother Princess Diana.
Weighing 7 lbs. 11 oz, she was born at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in the family home in Santa Barbara, California. And it must have been a huge relief to Meghan who made it Work without media attention and decide when exactly she wants to share the news.
We can’t wait for our first look at her Cali baby (Father’s Day would be a great opportunity, just to say) and we dream of a photo of Lili with her big brother, Archie, two year old, but for now we love all of them little details that came out about the new arrival of Harry and Meghan. We’ve rounded up some fun facts that you may not know.
Prince Harry may have hinted at her name years ago
Who would have thought that a conversation Prince Harry had with a young girl while visiting Birkenhead in 2019 would have been so meaningful now? At the time, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, heavily pregnant with Archie, were talking to a group of schoolchildren and Harry met a girl named Lily. He asked her mother how she spelled her daughter’s name before moving on.
Like many excited second timers, Harry and Meghan found out the gender of their second baby. But they persevered with Archie, which meant they should have picked names for both sexes in 2019. Looks like they definitely have Lily on their mind.
She shares something special with her first cousin, Princess Charlotte
Prince Harry has been talking a lot lately about how much his mother’s death cost his life and what one of Archie’s first words was’granny“In honor of his late grandmother, so it’s no surprise Diana was high on Meghan and Harry’s list for their baby Lilibet Diana. And she shares her middle name with her first cousin Princess Charlotte! When Prince William and Kate gave birth to a daughter, fans were sure they would honor his late mother by name, and they were right. Charlotte Elizabeth Diana pays tribute to Prince Charles, the Queen and Princess Diana. So the names of the cousins actually honor two of the same family members.
Lili will likely always be the baby of the Sussex family
When they sat down for a Interview with Oprah, Harry and Meghan first shared the gender of their second child, but what you may not remember is that they also said this baby would be their last. Of course, we all know these things can change, but at the time they seemed pretty safe. “To have a boy and then a girl – what more could you want?” Harry said during the interview in which the couple agreed that “it’s two”. Harry added, “Now we have our family and there are four of us.”
And this wasn’t the first time Harry had talked about having two children. In 2019, Prince Harry interviewed Dr. Jane Goodall for Vogue UK, and the topic of children came up. Harry explained that he wanted to preserve nature for his children and a laughing Jane replied, “Not too many!” Harry assured her that he would have “a maximum of two”.
She is the eighth in line to the throne
Lili comes right behind her brother and despite her parents has a place in the succession step back as working senior royals last year. Her grandfather Prince Charles, Uncle Prince William, cousins George, Charlotte and Louis and her father stand in front of her.
Lili debuted in style at a hospital founded by women
As a lifelong feminist, Meghan must have loved that her local Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital began when a group of women banded together in 1888 to provide cutting-edge care to her community. Its founder, Mary Ashley, was the first chairman of the board when it opened in 1891, and Dr. Jane E. Spaulding, the first superintendent, helped pave the way for future doctors.
According to the hospital, each of the delivery rooms has a rocking chair, sofa, chaise longue, and plenty of pillows, plus access to hydrotherapy hot tubs, birthing balls, and lush patios for hiking when going through your contractions feels good. And new parents can order meals from a menu and help themselves to snacks from the pantry.
The Queen was one of the first to find out about Lili’s birth
While they were very open about how unbearable their time in the royal family was, Harry and Meghan made it clear that they have a good relationship with the queen, telling Oprah that they regularly have facetime with her and she sent them a waffle iron has christmas. And like any royal baby People reports that she made sure she was one of the first to find out baby Lili was here. Although most of her great-grandchildren are named after her, we’d bet this new version of Elizabeth came as a fun surprise to the monarch.
