Her late Majesty released a Christmas card with her one-year-old son, King Charles, in 1949, alongside a handwritten message

Christmas is one of the rare occasions the public catches a glimpse of personal photos and messages from the royal family via their Christmas cards. King Charles and Queen Camilla were among the first to kick off the festive season, releasing a photo taken on their 20th wedding anniversary in the grounds of Villa Wolkonsky, the British ambassador’s residence in Rome, alongside the message: “Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Year.”

This sparked the Royal Collection Trust to take a deep dive into forgotten cards from the royals, including one from Charles’ late mother, Queen Elizabeth II. The second unearthed photo in the Instagram carousel showed a young Princess Elizabeth with her eldest son and was dated in 1949, three years before she ascended the throne.

Smiling in a white dress and a pearl necklace, the doting mother perched her one-year-old son, who sported a wide grin, a thick mop of hair and a white gown, on her lap. Perhaps most notable was the handwritten note to accompany the picture, which read: “Love and best wishes for Christmas”, and was signed off: “Lilibet.”

This marked a special link to Prince Harry, since Elizabeth’s nickname was later used as her great-granddaughter’s moniker.

Prince Harry’s daughter

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their daughter, Princess Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, on 4 June 2021. Her moniker pays tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II’s childhood nickname as well as Prince Harry’s late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Earlier this year, Meghan likened the process of naming her company to choosing a name for her children on her podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder.

The couple stated they got the late monarch’s approval for Princess Lilibet’s moniker before announcing it in 2021

During a chat with SPANX founder Sara Blakely, she said: “It’s no different. I will say this to every woman in the world or every person in the world who’s going to have a child: if you have an idea about what you are going to name that baby, you keep it so close to your heart, until that baby is born and it’s named. Don’t ask anyone’s opinion.”

Name controversy

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Some royal accounts suggest Queen Elizabeth II was not happy about her great-granddaughter being called Lilibet

At the time of Lilibet’s birth, Harry and Meghan stated that they had sought the late Queen’s approval before settling on the name. However, other royal accounts differ.

Nicky Haslam, interior designer and Queen Camilla’s close friend, said on The Third Act podcast in March 2022 that Queen Elizabeth II was “furious” when she discovered the news.

“He rang her up because she was furious, he rang her up and said, ‘We want to call our daughter after you, Granny,’ and she said, ‘Oh how charming, thank you,’ thinking it will be Elizabeth. So, he got permission, but they didn’t say the name,” he said.

Author Robert Hardman similarly wrote in his book, Charles III: New King, New Court, that the late royal was “as angry as I’d ever seen her” after the couple publicly stated she had supported their decision. He later added on HELLO!’s A Right Royal Podcast: “She met Lilibet and loved her. That was not an issue. What was an issue was the handling of the story that came after the naming of Lilibet.”

He added the narrative that the Queen had “given her blessing” was followed by the BBC releasing a statement denying this was the case, leading to legal letters from the Sussexes. According to Robert, they were “more or less demanding the palace corroborate their version of events. And that’s when the real anger kicked in because you don’t start telling the Queen, ‘You said this.'”

Lilibet origins

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Princess Elizabeth’s childhood nickname came about since she reportedly couldn’t pronounce her name

Lilibet, which derives from the Hebrew root Elisheva meaning “God is my oath”, was the monarch’s childhood nickname from her parents, the Queen Mother and King George VI, and her husband, Prince Philip.

She reportedly couldn’t pronounce her name, so she called herself ‘Lilibet’ instead. The name quickly stuck, with Her late Majesty stating in one note to her grandmother, Queen Mary: “Darling Granny. Thank you very much for the lovely doll’s house. I do love it, and I have unpacked the dining room and the hall. Love from Lilibet xxx.”