Meghan Markle reportedly “copyrighted” the name Lilibet, before giving birth to her and Prince Harry’s daughter back in 2021. Lilibet was famously the childhood pet name used by Queen Elizabeth II when she was too small to pronounce her name, and continued to be used by her parents, sister and husband throughout her life.

A royal commentator took aim at the couple for the decision after the claim appeared in a book by esteemed royal author Robert Hardman. It was reported at the time that the late Queen Elizabeth was left furious following their claim she had given them her blessing to call their baby daughter Lilibet.

In the book, Charles III: New King, New Court, The Inside Story, Mr Hardman wrote: “One [aide] privately recalled that Elizabeth II had been ‘as angry as I’d ever seen her’ in 2021 after the Sussexes announced that she had given them her blessing to call their baby daughter ‘Lilibet’, the Queen’s childhood nickname.”

News reports at the time stated that the late Queen was approached about the name being used and did not feel able to say no to the couple. However, the BBC reported that a Palace source claimed the monarch was not asked for her blessing by Harry and Meghan.

According to Mr Hardman, Queen Elizabeth reportedly said: “I don’t own the palaces or the paintings, only my name, and now they’ve taken that.”

Royal biographer and commentator Angela Levin went on to criticise the couple for leaving the late Queen “furious” and called their actions “appalling”.

She told GB News: “That’s an incredibly sad comment. I think one of the reasons she felt that way was because it was discovered that Meghan, even before Lilibet was born, had taken out the names officially so that she could use them to buy things and to identify them.”

Presenter Eamonn Holmes replied: “What do you mean? They’d copyrighted the name?” Levin replied: “Yes. Before she had Lilibet, I think that was awful for the Queen because she gets drawn into owning organisations due to the name being so unique.

“This name is just for her because she couldn’t say Elizabeth when she was young. It’s also for her family, her parents, and the Duke of Edinburgh, they all called her it out of love, it’s very intimate. People who don’t know about that will think that the Queen is supporting this, let’s buy it. I think it’s appalling.”

Despite the claims, a spokesperson for the couple said in reply: “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.”