A scowling Prince Harry has broken cover since the controversy over the name of his daughter Princess Lillibet Diana earlier this week. The Prince, 39, 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 use her name.
The Mail reported that Robert Hardman said 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 Mr Hardman, the late monarch’s statement came after Harry and Meghan publicly stated they wouldn’t have the name Lilibet without her permission.
The latest controversy comes as Harry and Meghan Markle try to start 2024 strongly after a busy and controversial 2023.
According to reports, after the birth of Princess Lilibet in 2021, Harry and Meghan asked the law firm Schillings to broadcasters 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, they were rebuffed.
Following the latest allegations, Harry and Meghan have remained silent on the matter and not released an official statement. This is the same policy they took after Omid Scobie’s Endgame was released late last year.
One PR expert has warned that this policy of silence may have backfired on the couple and made them look guilty.
Speaking to the Express, PR strategist Laura Perkes said: “Choosing to remain silent is often as telling, and more damaging than choosing to reply.
“Actions speak louder than words and in the case of Harry and Meghan, their silence made them look even more guilty.
“You could argue that a response would have looked like retaliation and perhaps seen as a defence mechanism to mask their guilt.”
Ms Perkes added that 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”.
Ms Perkes warned that the couple’s silence had made it look like “they had something to hide and added fuel to the fire.
She claimed that this could potentially work for the couple because “all publicity is good publicity” and this scandal “keeps them in the public eye”.
However, she cautioned: “As a PR Strategist & Mentor my first response in a crisis is to respond to incidents as soon as possible in a bid to take control of the narrative and stop it from gaining traction and getting out of control.”
