‘Low profile’ Harry and Meghan celebrate daughter Lilibet’s first birthday at Windsor after Queen finally met her great-granddaughter and couple had private meeting with Charles and Camilla
- Harry and Meghan are celebrating their daughter Lilibet’s first birthday today
- The family are keeping a low profile at Frogmore Cottage, Windsor, for occasion
- The Queen met the family in the 48 hours after Harry and Meghan arrived in UK
- It is anticipated that she will see them again, as she will not be at Epson Derby
- Lilibet was named in tribute to the Queen whose childhood nickname was Lilibet
- Latest Platinum Jubilee news as the Queen celebrates 70 years of service
Harry and Meghan are set to celebrate their daughter Lilibet’s first birthday today as they keep a low profile in Windsor, after the Queen finally met her great-granddaughter.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who are expected to mark the occasion at Frogmore Cottage, have also had a private meeting with Charles and Camilla during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Neither Lilibet, nor her older brother three-year-old Archie, have been seen in public at any of the festivities so far.
The birthday celebrations come after the couple were on full public view alongside the Windsors yesterday, the first time since they quit the monarchy for a new life in the US two years ago.
Royal commentator Omid Scobie, who is friendly with the Sussexes, told BBC Breakfast yesterday that Brits should not expect anything from the ‘private’ birthday celebrations.
‘I think people are expecting some sort of big birthday extravagant event, that we’re going to see photographs from,’ he said.
‘From what I’m told, we shouldn’t expect anything. Those moments with Lilibet are very much private between them and the Queen and of course we know how much she’s been looking forward to it.’
Earlier, the Daily Mail revealed that the Queen finally got to meet her great-granddaughter in a private meeting at Windsor.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s second child, born at 11.40am on Friday June 4, 2021 at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, was named in honour of the Queen.
Harry and Meghan are celebrating their daughter Lilibet’s first birthday today as they keep a low profile at Frogmore Cottage. Pictured, the couple with children Archie and Lilibet
Neither Lilibet, nor her older brother three-year-old Archie, have been seen in public at any of the Jubilee celebrations so far. Pictured, Harry and Meghan at yesterday’s National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral
The no doubt emotional family reunion – the monarch has not seen her great-grandson, Archie, since he was a few months old either – took place in the 48 hours after Harry and Meghan arrived in the UK with their family by private jet on Wednesday, it is understood.
It is believed that Harry and Meghan took their children to Windsor Castle to see their great-grandmother soon after they arrived in the UK, given the Queen’s current mobility problems — although this has not yet been officially confirmed.
Lilibet is today celebrating her first birthday in the UK and it is anticipated that the Queen will make time to see her grandson and his children again, given that she has cancelled her trip to the Epsom Derby and will not be attending tonight’s Party at the Palace.
It is also very likely that Prince Charles will get to meet his grandchildren too. It is understood that he and Camilla met Harry and Meghan privately.
Royal commentator Omid Scobie speculated that Thursday was likely to have been the ‘first moment or the first chance for her (the Queen) to meet her namesake’.
It comes as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle returned to their Windsor home of Frogmore Cottage yesterday afternoon, leaving the rest of the Royal Family to attend a reception without them following the Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen.
Prince Harry smiles as he arrives back at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor after attending the service at St Paul’s Cathedral yesterday
Harry and wife Meghan are driven in a Range Rover back to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor yesterday afternoon
The Duke of Sussex was seen smiling next to his wife while being driven in a Range Rover with another car carrying security personnel behind them, after what was the couple’s first joint royal engagement in two years.
They had been at St Paul’s Cathedral for the service, but were kept apart from Prince William, Kate, Prince Charles and Camilla after royal aides ensured they sat on the other side of the aisle – and they later left separately.
Buckingham Palace officials took great care to try to avoid a repeat of the frosty scenes when the Sussexes and Cambridges sat near each other and left together at their last joint event in March 2020 at Westminster Abbey.
And aides would have been delighted that today’s service in front of 2,000 guests passed without any such incident or negative ‘optics’ given the attempts to ensure today was about the Queen and her 70-year reign.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive for the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in London yesterday morning
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive and are greeted at the Great West Door by the Dean of St Paul’s yesterday
Harry and William have had a long-standing feud, while Harry has accused his father Charles of cutting him off financially and Meghan claimed an unnamed royal made a comment about Archie’s skin tone before he was born – with the Sussexes having a war of words with the Palace following last year’s bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview.
It was the first time Harry and Meghan, who now live in California, had been on full public view alongside the Windsors since they quit the monarchy for a new life in the US two years ago. Crowds cheered the pair as they arrived, with the couple smiling and waving.
The author of Finding Freedom told BBC Breakfast on Friday that Harry and Meghan ‘want to be as low profile as possible during this trip’.
The Sussexes were not on the Buckingham Palace balcony as Jubilee celebrations kicked off, but instead were seen only in a few photos, taken through a window at Horse Guards Parade during Trooping the Colour, showing them interacting with some of the royal children.
Prince Harry looks at his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, as they attend the National Service of Thanksgiving held at St Paul’s Cathedral yesterday
It is anticipated that the Queen will make time to see Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet again. Pictured, the couple at yesterday’s National Service of Thanksgiving
Their daughter Lilibet was, somewhat controversially, named in tribute to the Queen, whose childhood nickname was Lilibet.
It was coined when the then Princess Elizabeth was a toddler in the 1920s and struggled to pronounce her own name properly.
The Queen’s father George VI was quoted as saying of his daughters: ‘Lilibet is my pride. Margaret is my joy.’
The nickname was also used by the monarch’s late husband, Prince Philip, as well as close family and friends.
One-year-old Lilibet, known as Lili, has the middle name Diana, which was chosen in memory of her late grandmother.
Queen Elizabeth II symbolically leads the lighting of the principal Jubilee beacon at Windsor Castle
At the time, many saw the Sussexes’ decision to name their daughter after the Queen as an attempt to emphasise their links with the Royal Family at a time when they were setting up lucrative commercial deals as part of their new independent lives in the US.
Buckingham Palace also became embroiled in a row over whether the Queen was consulted over the name in advance.
The BBC reported that the Sussexes had not asked permission to use the name and that none had been granted.
But a spokesman for the couple insisted that Lilibet’s great-grandmother was told in advance and that they would not have used the name had the monarch disapproved of it.
The spokesman 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.’
Harry also threatened legal action against the broadcaster, asserting that the claims were ‘false and defamatory’.
Some royal sources have waspishly indicated that there was a world of difference between asking permission and presenting it as a fait accompli.
So just when HAVE Harry and Meghan shared a glimpse of Archie and Lilibet with desperate royal fans?
8 May 2019 – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle appear in photo-call for Archie at Windsor Castle.
When asked to expose more of their baby’s face to the cameras, the Duchess laughed as Harry joked: ‘He’s already got a little bit of facial hair as well, wonderful.’
6 July 2019 – Meghan and Harry hold private christening for Archie and release two images of the event on Sussex Royal. It offers royal fans their first real glimpse at Archie
10 July 2019 – Meghan cradles Archie in her arms as they join Prince Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at a polo match
September 25 2019 – Meghan and Prince Harry appear in front of cameras with Archie as they meet with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his wife Leah at the Tutu foundation in Cape Town
24 December 2019 – Meghan and Harry release their holiday card for the year, with their son taking centre stage in the black-and-white snap
31 December 2019 – Duke and Duchess also share a snap of Prince Harry cradling Archie during their ‘break’ in Canada on Vancouver Island on their Instagram page
6 May 2020 – Meghan and Archie appear in a video for Save the Children to mark youngster’s first birthday where Duchess reads Duck or Goose
23 December 2020 – Duke and Duchess release an illustrated Christmas card in which Archie’s face is not visible
8 March 2021 – Archie appears briefly in Meghan and Harry’s Oprah Winfrey interview as he runs along beach, but his face is barely visible
9 March 2021 – Meghan and Harry share a snap cuddling with Archie in their garden – but his face is buried in Meghan’s shoulder
6 May 2021 – Meghan and Harry release photograph of Archie from behind for his 2nd birthday
21 May 2021 – Archie, from behind, appears on swings with Prince Harry in The Me You You Can’t See documentary
6 June 2021 – Meghan releases her children’s book the bench, in which both her children are illustrated
7 June 2021 – Meghan and Harry announce their daughter Lilibet has been born, but do not release any photographs
4 August 2021 – Meghan releases video to mark her 40th birthday, in which there appears to be a blurry image of Harry kissing a newborn in the background, thought to be Lilibet. There are also several blurry images of Archie.
18 November 2021 – Meghan shares another picture of Archie from behind as she appears on The Ellen Show
23 December 2021 – The Duke and Duchess share an image of their family, including Archie and Lilibet, in which their faces are all visible to the camera
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