‘Underlying sadness’ on Princess Lilibet’s third birthday

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been “phoney” and “awful” on their Nigeria trip, according to royal biographer Angela Levin.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were invited by Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff for a three-day tour.

During their visit, Meghan shared insights about their children, Archie and Lilibet, and discussed mental health with schoolchildren.

Speaking with GB News, Levin criticised the couple’s appearance, calling it “phoney and awful”.

She accused Meghan of being rude during an interaction with teachers and students, claiming Meghan seemed disinterested and focused on posing for pictures.

“She was very rude, because one of the teachers was talking to her and there were two girls there joining in politely,” Levin said.

“She wanted someone who could then take nice pictures of her and Harry, and you think, my goodness, where are your manners?”

The young royal, officially Princess Lilibet of Sussex, is expected to celebrate her big day at home in California with her parents and brother Prince Archie, 5, and the day will not be acknowledged by the royal family.

Royal expert Phil Dampier believes Lilibet’s birthday will likely have “underlying sadness” due to the family’s rift with King Charles, who is understood to have only met his youngest granddaughter once.

“It is amazing that she’s already three but there is this underlying sadness of course because of the rift that the King is not seeing his grandchildren,” he told the Express newspaper on Monday.

“I think he’s only met Lilibet possibly once and Archie only a couple of times and they are seventh and eighth in line to the throne (sic), growing up in California on the West Coast of America with American accents and they just don’t see them.”

Unlike her brother Archie, who was born in the United Kingdom before “Megxit”, Lilibet was born in the United States after her parents left royal duties. She is named after her late great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.

Mr Dampier pointed out that Lilibet and Archie effectively have no relationships with either of their grandfathers and only have one grandparent in their lives, Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland.

Meghan’s father Thomas Markle has reportedly never met his grandkids or son-in-law Prince Harry after selling stories about his world-famous daughter to the tabloids ahead of her wedding in 2018.

The Duchess of Sussex later admitted her father’s “betrayal” was something she could not “reconcile” during her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, coincidentally while pregnant with Lilibet.

“That is the underlying sadness and whether they’re going to one day heal this rift, we don’t know, but at the moment I don’t think there’s much prospect,” Mr Dampier said.

Lilibet and her brother gained the titles of Prince and Princess following the death of Elizabeth II in September 2022 as the children of the son of the reigning Monarch.

Harry and Meghan’s decision to grant their children the royal titles despite slamming the institution and quitting royal duties baffled many Britons and was accused of being a cynical move by the Sussexes to capitalise on their royal connections.

Other senior royal family members, like Princess Anne and Prince Edward, chose not to give their children any royal titles, which Anne’s daughter Zara Tindall has credited with her professional success.

“I’m very lucky that both my parents decided to not use the title and we grew up and did all the things that gave us the opportunity to do,” she told The Times last year. 

Zara is arguably one of the most accomplished members of the Windsor family and won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics as an equestrian.