Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have officially welcomed their second child together, a baby girl. And the little one’s name, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, pays tribute to several family members.
“It is with great joy that Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, welcome their daughter, Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, to the world,” read a statement released on Sunday morning. “Lili was born on Friday, June 4 at 11:40 a.m. in the trusted care of the doctors and staff at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, CA. She weighed 7 lbs 11 oz.”
The statement continued, “Both mother and child are healthy and well, and settling in at home. 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. This is the second child for the couple, who also have a two-year-old son named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The Duke and Duchess thank you for your warm wishes and prayers as they enjoy this special time as a family.”
Harry and Meghan added, “On June 4th, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili. 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. Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family.”
The couple’s new arrival was born just months after Meghan and Harry announced their happy news on Valentine’s Day in a statement that read: “We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child.”
In March, Meghan and Harry gushed over their expanding family and revealed the sex of the baby during a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. “Amazing, just grateful, just to have any child, any one or any two would have been amazing, but to have a boy and then a girl, what more could you ask for?” Harry said. The duo later confirmed that this would be the baby who completed their family.
Meghan and Harry, who welcomed Archie in May 2019, suffered a miscarriage prior to the birth of their baby girl. “I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second,” Meghan recalled in a heartbreaking essay for the New York Times in November. “Hours later, I lay in a hospital bed, holding my husband’s hand. I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wet from both our tears.”
Meghan went on to address those who have, or may, face a similar burden. “Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few,” she wrote. “In the pain of our loss, my husband and I discovered that in a room of 100 women, 10 to 20 of them will have suffered from a miscarriage. Yet despite the staggering commonality of this pain, the conversation remains taboo, riddled with (unwarranted) shame, and perpetuating a cycle of solitary mourning.”
She added: “Some have bravely shared their stories; they have opened the door, knowing that when one person speaks truth, it gives license for all of us to do the same. We have learned that when people ask how any of us are doing, and when they really listen to the answer, with an open heart and mind, the load of grief often becomes lighter — for all of us. In being invited to share our pain, together we take the first steps toward healing.”
Back in May, a source told ET that prior to the release of the Oprah interview and Harry’s mental health-focused docuseries, “several members of the royal family reached out directly to congratulate Meghan after she and Harry announced their pregnancy.”
“The family was delighted,” the source said at the time. “There was real happiness for the couple especially after Meghan’s earlier miscarriage.”
