What Are Harry and Meghan Really Up to With the New Royal Baby Name?
SlateThe daughter that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced they were expecting a few months ago—her impending arrival was just one revelation that came out of their explosive Oprah interview, you may recall—is now here. Royal family lore has it that the queen’s childhood attempts to pronounce “Elizabeth” came out more like “Lilibet,” and eventually it stuck as a nickname, one that lasted her into adulthood—it is reportedly what her late husband, Philip, called her, making the name a tribute to him as well. Yet upon an inquiry, one Slate research ace confirmed the name “Lilibet” does not seem to have appeared in print before stories of a young Elizabeth abandoning the name around age 5, in the early 1930s. But the origins of “Lilibet” are probably less interesting than another big question surrounding the name, which is: If Meghan and Harry were so unhappy in the royal family that they made the unprecedented choice to quit it, move a continent away, and tell all in a television special, why did they name their new baby after the head of the family that was causing them so much grief?