Letter: Welcoming Lilibet Diana

So Harry and Meghan s baby daughter has entered the world and had been gifted with the name of Lilibet Diana.

The Diana component had been predicted by all of us and is indeed a fitting tribute to the child's late grandmother.

However, everyone seems to have an opinion on their choice of the name Lilibet. Some say it is a way of holding out an olive branch to the royals, others say it's a tasteless attempt at trying to curry favour with The Queen. As for my thoughts on the matter, well the words of Catherine Tate's character Nan spring to mind.

"What a flipping liberty!"

Bear in mind, however, that the word "flipping" is an euphemism for the one Nan actually used.

Yes, Harry and Meghan have taken a liberty, using a name that was actually a personal pet name for The Queen, which was used not only by her parents in childhood but also by her husband, who has only recently passed away.

I doubt, also if they ran it past her first before they made the decision to use the name for their daughter.

Of course they are entitled to call her what they like and what resonates with them but not at the expense of The Queen, especially in view of the fact that she is recently bereaved.

It kind of adds insult to injury after Harry recently questioned his grandmothers parenting ability too.

As for shortening the child's name to Lilli, that sounds fine on the face if it, but, wait a minute, wasn't the name of the heroine in Shirley Conran’s 1980s novel Lace called Lilli?

In fairness, Harry and Meghan are too young to remember this novel but let's just say that it was steamy enough to cause condensation to form on windows and I shouldn't think the Queen would be too enthused about her great grandchild sharing the name of the heroine from a naughty book, in addition to one that was used as a pet name for her.

Not that Harry and Meghan are likely to lose any sleep over that one, I'm sure.

Anyway, I hope the child grows up happy and healthy but with such little contact with her cousins and family, on both sides, I can't help thinking she will grow up in an atmosphere of family toxicity that Harry claims he wants to avoid.

We shall see...