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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Jennifer Newton

Lilibet's unique non-royal life so far - celebrity playdates and special first birthday

One year ago today, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle welcomed their second child - a beautiful daughter called Lilibet.

And as she celebrates her first birthday today, her first 12 months have certainly been unique - and much different to her older brother Archie's or her royal cousins George, Charlotte and Louis.

For a start, she was born in California rather than the UK, at a time after her parents had stepped down as working royals.

We've rarely seen the youngster - but she did feature in the Sussex family's gorgeous Christmas card photo last year and she is currently in the UK for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

However, her proud parents have shared several cute snippets about her life so far, including her celebrity friends and her "chilled" nature...

Name of tributes

Harry and Meghan with son Archie and daughter Lilibet (alexilubomirski/Instagram)
Lilibet turns one today (HSH Alexi Lubomirski)

It was on June 4, 2021, that Harry and Meghan welcomed their daughter - revealing her name as Lilibet Diana.

Of course, her middle name is a tribute to Harry's late mother Princess Diana, while her first name Lilibet is in honour of the Queen.

The name Lilibet was a nickname given to the Queen by her grandfather as she struggled to say her name Elizabeth as a child.

Meghan with the Queen, who Lilibet is named after (Getty Images)

Harry and Meghan's spokesperson said: “The Duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement, in fact, his grandmother was the first family member he called.

"During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name."

Meghan gave birth to Lilibet at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, whereas older brother Archie was born at the Portland Hospital in London.

Lilibet does not have a title as yet but is eighth in line to the throne.

Chilled nature

Since her birth, Harry and Meghan have let their little girl enjoy privacy.

But the pair have given small updates about their daughter to let fans know how she is getting on.

Last July, while attending the Well Child Awards, Harry told one of the guests: "We’ve been lucky so far, she’s very chilled and seems happy to just sit there while Archie is running around like crazy."

And in September, Meghan told reporters Lilibet was beautiful during a trip to New York City.

Celeb playdates

Ellen DeGeneres is known to be a friend of Meghan's and has met Lilibet (Warner Bros)

She may have only just turned one, but it seems Lilibet can count on some celebrity pals.

In a recent interview on The Ellen Show, Meghan revealed that host Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia had hung out with the family.

Ellen and Portia are thought to be neighbours of Harry and Meghan and had visited them for a Halloween get-together.

Meanwhile, it has also been reported that TV host James Corden's kids have enjoyed playdates with Lilibet and her big brother Archie.

Asked by The Sun if he had visited Harry and Meghan's house, Corden said: "I have. It was more a sort of play date scenario [with the kids]. "

Halloween fun

During her chat with Ellen, Meghan revealed the cute costume Lilibet wore during the Halloween party.

Meghan said: "We wanted to do something fun for the kids but the kids were just not into it at all.

"Lilibet was a little skunk… like Flower from Bambi.

"Archie was a dinosaur for maybe five minutes."

Teething troubles

But it's not been all fun and costumes, in the Sussex household - Harry and Meghan have also had to contend with Lilibet teething.

In her interview with Ellen, Meghan revealed how she was looking for "anything to relieve” Lilibet’s teething pain, and the host replied: “Tequila, anything.”

And Meghan joked: “That’s Auntie Ellen for you”, who accepted: “That’s why I don’t have kids.”

Special birthday party

The Queen is said to be spending time with Lilibet on her first birthday (Getty Images)

Having been born in America, and only coming to the UK for the first time this weekend, Lilibet had not had the opportunity to meet any of her royal relatives - including her great grandmother the Queen.

But now she has visited the UK, there is a possibility she might have finally met some of her royal relatives.

And this morning, the Queen's official Twitter account, as well as those of her grandfather the Prince of Wales and her uncle and aunt William and Kate publicly sent her birthday wishes.

The Queen is missing out on one of her favourite sporting events today - the Derby - and it could be that she could Lilibet on her birthday day.

But royal commentator Omid Scobie, one of the authors of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's biography Finding Freedom, told BBC Breakfast: "I think people are expecting some sort of big birthday extravagant event, that we're going to see photographs from. From what I'm told, we shouldn't expect anything.

"Those moments with Lilibet are very much private between them and the Queen and of course we know how much she's been looking forward to it.

"They've been held back by a pandemic. Of course the times that Harry has been here it's just been by himself for quite sombre occasions. And so this really was the first time.

"Of course we know the Queen went back to Windsor Castle yesterday [Thursday], the couple went back to Windsor as well where they're staying at Frogmore Cottage."

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