How the British royals reacted to the birth of Harry and Meghan’s daughter

Though Prince Harry and Meghan Markles’ daughter was born on Friday, the couple took a “Lilibet” of time to share their happy news with the public.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex formally introduced their second child, Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, to the world on Sunday. 

“She is more than we could ever have imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we’ve felt from across the globe,” the proud parents said.

Members of the British royal family were quick to react to the announcement on social media.

Buckingham Palace tweeted that Queen Elizabeth was “delighted” with the birth of her 11th great-grandchild. The little girl has been named in honour of the monarch, who is fondly called Lilibet by her family.

Prince William and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, expressed their delight at the arrival of their niece. They also extended their congratulations to baby’s big brother, Archie. 

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wished the Sussex family well “at this special time”.

Lili is Prince Charles’ fifth grandchild, and he has five step-grandchildren courtesy of Camilla. 

Lilibet was born at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, where the Sussexes have settled after stepping back from their roles as senior British royals last year.

In a recent episode of the podcast Armchair Expert, Prince Harry said their move to America was prompted by his determination to break a genetic cycle of “pain and suffering”.

Without wanting to “point fingers” or “blame anybody”, he said thinking about the way his father, Prince Charles, had been raised had given him fresh insight into his own sometimes troubled childhood.

“I never saw it, I never knew about it, and then suddenly I started to piece it together and go, ‘OK, so this is where he went to school, this is what happened, I know this about his life, I also know that is connected to his parents so that means he has treated me the way he was treated, so how can I change that for my own kids’?

“And well, here I am. I’ve moved my whole family to the US.”