Diana would have been a ‘hands-on grandmother’ to Lili because she always wanted a daughter, royal expert says

The late Princess of Wales would have been a “hands-on grandmother” to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new daughter because she always wanted a baby girl of her own, a royal expert has said.

On Sunday 6 June, Prince Harry and Meghan announced the arrival of their second child, a daughter named Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. She is the couple’s second child; they also have a two-year-old son, named Archie.

In a statement after her birth, Harry and Meghan said they had chosen her name to honour both the Queen and her late grandmother, Princess Diana.

“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,” Meghan and Harry said in a statement.

Now Ian Lloyd, royal photographer and author of The Duke has told The Independent he believes it was “almost definite” that Harry would choose to include Diana in his daughter’s name.

“He absolutely adores his mother so it’s only right that the name should be theirs,” he said, adding that the naming is “quite poignant” because Diana herself loved baby girls.

“Diana herself wanted a baby girl, and she was always drawn to the daughters of her friends,” he said.

“Therefore, had she lived I think she would have been especially fond of Princess Charlotte [William and Kate’s daughter] and baby Lili. I think she would have been very much a hands-on grandmother,” he added.

Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior members of the royal family in March 2020 and have since settled in Santa Barbara, California, where it is expected they will raise their children.

“Both [the Queen and Princess Diana] are really feted in America. The Queen is adored, but Diana was particularly well received,” Lloyd said, adding that he believes Lili’s name will be “to her advantage”.

In a statement announcing Lili’s birth, Harry and Meghan said: “She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we’ve felt from across the globe.”