Reports at the time claimed the late Queen was consulted about the name, but did not feel able to say no whereas the BBC reported that a Palace source said Elizabeth was not asked by the Sussexes whether they could use the name.
At the time, the Sussexes’s lawyers reportedly sent legal letters to the BBC and other publishers saying the claim was false and defamatory, while their spokesperson insisted they spoke to the late monarch.
According to Hardman, Queen Elizabeth allegedly told Palace aides: “I don’t own the palaces or the paintings, only my name, and now they’ve taken that.”
Now royal biographer Angela Levin blasted the couple over leaving the late Queen ‘furious’ and called their actions “appalling”.
She told GB News: “That’s an incredibly sad comment, I think one of the reasons she felt that way was because it was discovered that Megan, even before Lilibet was born, had taken out the names officially so that she could use them to buy things and to identify them.
Presenter Eamonn Holmes asked: “What do you mean? They’d copyrighted the name?” Levin replied: “Yes. Before she had Lilibet, I think that was awful for the Queen because she gets drawn into owning organisations due to the name being so unique.
“This name is just for her because she couldn’t say Elizabeth when she was young. It’s also for her family, her parents, and the Duke of Edinburgh, they all called her it out of love, it’s very intimate.
“People who don’t know about that will think that the Queen is supporting this, let’s buy it. I think it’s appalling.”
She added that she found it a “very disrespectful” move by Harry and Meghan and said: “It’s Meghan trying to get her own back because she hated the fact that she wasn’t treated as she felt she should have been in the Royal Family.
“We saw this on Netflix when they did their six-hour broadcast, she did that imitation curtsy. So over the top, wasn’t it? Harry’s face was just stricken.
“I mean, it just shows you not just who is in charge, but that she doesn’t care what he thinks because he would be very hurt by that.
“He loved the Queen, and although he might have felt it’s not quite their lives to live in there. He told me when I was writing his biography that he would have stayed longer because of the Queen – because she is so wonderful.”
Buckingham Palace and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been contacted for comment.
