Prince Harry and Meghan welcome daughter

On June 4, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, daughter of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, was born in Santa Barbara, California.

Markle gave birth to her second child at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Lilibet is the second child of Harry and Meghan, the first being their son, Archie.

In the official statement by the couple via their media site, Archewell; “Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet. Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honor her beloved late grandmother, The Princess of Wales.”

No photos of their daughter have been released.

Lilibet has dual citizenship in the United States and the United Kingdom. According to Justin Olmstead, the history education director at the University of Central Oklahoma, “If she was born in the United States, she’s an American citizen, that’s the way our laws work.” 

Olmstead also stated, “This is not going to cause issues between the United States and Great Britain. This is a royal matter […] I think more Americans love the royal family more than British people do. There’s a lot of British people who love the royals, don’t get me wrong.”

Since she is a member of the royal family, she automatically has citizenship in the U.K.

According to Martin Farr, a professor at the School of History of Newcastle University in the U.K., in an email correspondence with The Vista, the birth of the royal in the U.S. is unlikely to change the dynamic of the two countries. “I don’t think it alters the relationship so much as provides more publicity to discuss. […] If taken at face value, uncritically, [it] would likely convey a negative impression about Britain, or certainly the Royal Family, as being out of touch at best, and racist and misogynistic at worst.”

While they are still the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan renounced their royal titles of “His/Her Royal Highness,” in early 2020. They later told Oprah in an interview that they made the decision due to the stress and pressure Meghan was under from the royal family and media in the U.K.

Queen Elizabeth II has not made remarks regarding the accusations of Harry and Meghan. According to Farr, the queen is unlikely to say anything. “The Queen reigns but does not rule. She is above politics and public debate. Her personal opinions on any subject are not known. […] Moreover, nobody will ask her: journalists would never ask (or shout) a question as they do publicly to a President or a Prime Minister.”

Farr also spoke on the popularity of Harry and Meghan in the U.K., “This is a generalization, but a reliable one: it’s very much a matter of age. Their popularity has diminished among older people and grown among younger. They have become part of the culture wars – which predated but which were intensified by the murder of George Floyd – responses to which are largely influenced by age.”

Olmstead made a similar comment: “From what I gather, if you didn’t like Meghan before, you like her less now. If you liked her before you still probably like her.”