Harry will ‘come down like a ton of bricks’ on press intrusion into Lilibet’s life, claims royal expert

Prince Harry will ensure that his daughter Lilibet Diana does not suffer because of overt media intrusion into her life in the same way that he did as a child, a royal expert has claimed.

On Sunday 6 June, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their daughter, Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, was born two days previously at a hospital in Santa Barbara, California.

Ian Lloyd, a royal photographer and author of The Duke, told The Independent that while it is unclear whether the Sussexes will choose a “totally conventional” way of life away from the public eye to raise their children, Harry will do everything in his power to protect them from adverse publicity.

“Harry will certainly protect the children from the limelight and from the media...because he’s very clearly suffered from it all his life,” Lloyd said.

Speaking of how Harry was regularly photographed by paparazzi long lens cameras as a child, Lloyd said the prince will ensure the same doesn’t happen to his daughter.

“[He will] come down like a ton of bricks on anybody who tries to snoop pictures of Lili as a baby and later in life, whether that’s her first boyfriend or first kiss,” said Lloyd.

“He will really make sure that the press doesn’t ruin her life in the way he feels very much that they’ve ruined his,” he added.

In his new documentary, The Me You Can’t See, Harry spoke candidly about the negative impact of the tabloid press on both his and Meghan’s mental health.

He said “feeling controlled through fear” by the media and by the “system” was one of the biggest reasons he decided to step down from the royal family.

The duke recalled how the “clicking of cameras” makes his “blood boil” because it brings up memories of his mother’s death.

“We would get followed, photographed, chased, harassed. The clicking of cameras and flashes of cameras makes my blood boil, it makes me angry, it takes me back to what happened to my mum and what I experienced when I was a kid,” he said.

Lili, who weighed seven pounds and 11 ounces, and her mother are healthy and well, according to a statement and are now settling in at home.

Since formally stepping down as senior members of the royal family, Harry and Meghan have now settled in Santa Barbara in California. They also have a two-year-old son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.