Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce the birth of their baby girl Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Bedford News

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex celebrate the arrival of their baby girl, whom they named Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

Meghan gave birth to her second child on Friday June 4 at 11:40 a.m. at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara.

The baby – a younger sister of two-year-old Sussexes son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor – weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces.

A statement from the couple’s press secretary said: “It is with great joy that Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, welcome their daughter, Lilibet” Lili “Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, in the world.

“Lili was born Friday June 4 at 11:40 am under the trusted care of doctors and staff at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California.

“She weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces. Both mother and child are healthy and doing well and are 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 couple’s second child, 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 family time.”

Harry and Meghan revealed they were expecting a girl in March during their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.

It was a lighter moment during a series of bombs that left the monarchy in crisis.

Meghan has accused an anonymous member of the Royal Family – not the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh – of racism, saying they were concerned about Archie’s skin color before he was born.

The Duchess also called the institution for not helping her when she was suicidal.

The Queen responded by saying the issues were taken “very seriously” but “some memories may vary” and the matter would be dealt with by the family in private.

The new baby is the Queen’s eleventh great-grandchild – poignantly, the first of the monarch and Philip’s great-grandchildren to be born since the Duke’s death in April.

But with the Sussexes living in California and amid a troubled relationship with their family, it’s unclear when or if the new addition will meet the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family.

Harry then accused the royal family of ‘total neglect’ when his wife Meghan felt suicidal amid the social media harassment.

In his Apple TV series on mental health, he lambasted the Prince of Wales’ parenting skills, criticizing his father for expecting his sons to come under the pressure of royal life, just as Charles did, at the time. instead of protecting them.

Just as Archie was not allowed to be a prince or an HRH when he was born in 2018, the Sussex girl is not allowed to be a princess or an HRH due to rules set over 100 years ago by George V.

Meghan controversially claimed on her Oprah show that Archie has the right to be a prince taken away from him because of his race.

In fact, he was too far removed from the crown because although he is a great-grandchild of a sovereign, he is not the “eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales” as demanded by rules of George V.

The new baby will have the right to be a princess and Archie a prince – both with styles of HRH – after the death of the queen and when Charles becomes king.

This is because they will have climbed the line of succession to become the children of a monarch’s son.

Although Harry and Meghan have left their posts as a member of the Royal Family, the baby still has a place in the succession.

She is eighth to the throne, after Archie, who is seventh, and before the Duke of York, who fell to ninth place.

The new baby is also a first cousin of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis and a fifth grandchild for Charles, but will grow up across the Atlantic, thousands of miles from the royal family – at a time of heartache and division within Windsor.

Additional reports by the PA