Britain's Duke and Duchess of Sussex are celebrating the arrival of their baby daughter, who they have named Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
Meghan gave birth to her second child on Friday, June 4th, at 11.40am at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara.
The baby – a younger sister for two-year-old Archie – weighed 7lbs 11oz.
A statement from the couple’s press secretary said: “It is with great joy that Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, welcome their daughter, Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, to the world.
“Lili was born on Friday, June 4th at 11.40am in the trusted care of the doctors and staff at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California.
“She weighed 7lbs 11oz. Both mother and child are healthy and well, and settling in at home.
“Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet.
“Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honour her beloved late grandmother, The Princess of Wales.
“This is the second child for the couple, who also have a two-year-old son named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
“The Duke and Duchess thank you for your warm wishes and prayers as they enjoy this special time as a family.”
Harry and Meghan revealed they were expecting a girl in March during their explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.
It was a lighter moment during a series of bombshells that left the British monarchy in crisis.
Meghan accused an unnamed member of the family – not the Queen or her late husband Prince Philip – of racism, saying they expressed concern about how dark Archie’s skin tone might be before he was born.
She also called out the institution for not helping her when she was suicidal.
The royal family responded by saying the issues were taken “very seriously” but that “some recollections may vary” and the matter would addressed by the family privately.
The new baby is the Queen’s 11th great-grandchild – the first of the British monarch and Philip’s great-grandchildren to be born since his death in April.
But with Harry and Meghan living in California and amid troubled relationships with their family, it is not known when or if the new addition will meet the Queen and the rest of the royals.
Harry has gone on to accuse the royal family of “total neglect” when his wife Meghan was feeling suicidal amid harassment on social media.
In his Apple TV mental health series, he lambasted the parenting skills of the Prince of Wales, criticising his father for expecting his sons to endure the pressures of royal life, just as Charles has done, instead of protecting them.
Just like Archie was not entitled to be a prince or an HRH when he was born in 2018, their daughter is not permitted to be a princess or an HRH due to rules set down more than 100 years ago by George V.
Meghan controversially claimed during her Oprah broadcast that Archie had his right to be a prince taken away from him because of his race.
In fact, he was too far removed from the crown because although he is a great-grandchild of a sovereign, he is not the “eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales” as George V’s rules required.
The new baby will be entitled to be a princess and Archie a prince – both with HRH styles – after the death of the Queen and when Charles becomes king.
