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Will the Queen get to meet Harry and Meghan’s daughter Lilibet despite Duke’s security fears?

The Sussexes have not yet brought their 10-month-old daughter to meet the monarch

Kate Ng
Saturday 16 April 2022 11:12 BST
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Meghan Markle gives her coat to mother with baby at Invictus Games

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex met with the Queen during a secret visit to the UK this week - but the senior royal has yet to be meet their youngest child.

It marks the couple’s first trip to Europe together since they stepped down as senior royals and moved to California in March 2020.

According to reports, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle also met with Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, before seeing the Queen.

The visit was Meghan’s first with her royal in-laws since the couple left the UK with their son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their son Archie (Toby Melville/PA) (PA Wire)

Since then, they have had a daughter who they named after the royal family’s nickname for the Queen.

The baby girl, born in June 2021, was also given a middle name in honour of Harry’s late mother, Diana, princess of Wales.

But the children did not accompany their parents to Europe on this trip, which means the Queen still has not met the newest addition, Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

It is not known if the Sussexes are planning to bring their children to the UK to meet the rest of the royal family, amid the Duke’s case against the Home Office over police protection in the UK.

Harry brought a claim against the Home Office earlier this year to challenge the February 2020 decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec), which told him he would no longer be given the “same degree” of personal protective security when visiting from the US.

Meghan and Harry are in the Netherlands for the Invictus games (Getty Images for the Invictus Ga)

The decision was made despite Harry offering to pay for police protection himself.

The High Court was told that Harry wants to bring his children to the UK, but “does not feel safe” when visiting under current security arrangements.

He is arguing that his private protection team in the US does not have adequate jurisdiction abroad or access to UK intelligence information which is necessary to keep his family safe.

However, it was reported that the couple have told the Queen that she will be able to see both Archie and Lilibet soon.

The Mirror quoted a source as saying that Harry and Meghan are “certainly planning to return to see the Queen with their family in the near future”.

“Both the Duke and Duchess are very mindful the Queen is getting older and has had health issues associated with her great age,” the source added.

The Queen, who is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee this year to mark 70 years on the throne, recently revealed that her bout of Covid left her feeling “very tired and exhausted”.

The Queen at the memorial service for the Duke of Edinburgh, which the Sussexes did not attend (Richard Pohle/The Times/PA) (PA Wire)

She tested positive for the virus in February and had suffered from “mild, cold-like symptoms”, according to Buckingham Palace.

There have also been concerns around problems with her mobility, which she pointed to during an official engagement earlier this year.

While holding an in-person audience with Defence Services Secretary Major General Eldon Millar, and his predecessor, Rear Admiral James Macleod, Her Majesty used a walking stick to help her stand.

She pointed to her left leg or foot, and remarked: “Well, as you can see, I can’t move.”

The Queen also spent a night in hospital undergoing preliminary tests in October 2021 and was ordered to rest and only carry out light duties for three months afterwards.

The Independent has contacted a representative for the Sussexes for comment.

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