Prince Harry makes first public appearance since the Lilibet-name saga as King Charles is nudged into retirement

Prince Harry was spotted going for a run in Santa Barbara, California, just a few days after a royal biographer claimed Queen Elizabeth II had been angered by the Sussexes’ decision to name their daughter after her.

In his new book, Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, author Robert Hardman claims the late Queen never gave Harry and Megan Markle a blessing to use her name.

Hardman said a staff member close to the late queen “recalled that Elizabeth II had been ‘as angry as I’d ever seen her’ in 2021 after the Sussexes announced that she had given them her blessing to call their baby daughter ‘Lilibet’, the Queen’s childhood nickname.”

The Mail reported that Hardman claimed the late-Queen told her aides: “I don’t own the palaces, I don’t own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name…now they’ve taken that.”

According to Hardman, the late monarch’s statement came after Harry and Meghan publicly stated they wouldn’t have the name Lilibet without her permission.

ALSO READ: PICS: Inside Claudia Henkel and her new man’s vacay

According to reports in the Express, after the birth of Princess Lilibet in 2021, Harry and Meghan asked the law firm Schillings to broadcast saying any reports Queen Elizabeth II had not given permission for the name Lilibet to be used were not true.

However, when the pair allegedly asked Buckingham Palace to support their version of events, this was not entertained.

The controversial couple has remained silent on the matter.

PR strategist Laura Perkes told the Express: “Choosing to remain silent is often as telling, and more damaging than choosing to reply.”

“… Harry and Meghan, their silence made them look even more guilty,” said Perkes.

“You could argue that a response would have looked like retaliation and perhaps seen as a defence mechanism to mask their guilt.”

Perkes said if the pair had issued a statement this would have “sent a strong signal from their camp that they weren’t involved and wouldn’t be discussing it further”.

ALSO READ: “I’m well and safe at the hotel,” – Nomuzi Mabena after surviving Cyclone Belal in Mauritius

King Charles to step down?

Danish Queen Margrethe II has sparked speculation about whether King Charles should follow the Scandinavian royal’s example by abdicating his throne to someone more youthful.

83 year-old Margrethe handed over the crown to her son Frederik after 52 years on the throne, becoming the latest European monarch to step down in favour of a younger successor.

Spain’s King Juan Carlos I abdicated in 2014, while Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and King Albert II of Belgium both renounced their thrones in 2013.

Charles became king in September 2022 at the age of 73 after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II.

The Guardian newspaper called Margrethe’s abdication “a sign of a sensible constitutional monarchy”.

“He (Charles) is certainly entitled to a substantial reign after waiting so long. But not to death,” it added. He was the oldest heir apparent in British history and is now 75, with his age prompting inevitable questions about how long he will sit on the throne. His heir, the more popular Prince William, will be 42 in June.

NOW READ: Will Danish abdication prompt King Charles to step down early?