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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s plan for 2024 to be their “redemption year” and rebrand in a way that has nothing to do with the royal family isn’t off to a great start. The Sussexes’ names are right back in the headlines with the prince’s relatives and this time staffers who worked for the late Queen Elizabeth II are calling the couple out over a few of their past actions and claims after they stepped down.

Now that some of what the duke and duchess have said and done since moving to America is back in the news, many experts are discussing who they think made the final decisions when it came to things like giving their daughter the queen’s personal nickname.

Royal author explains how Meghan has proven ‘she’s in charge’ of Prince Harry

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend a Creative Industries and Business Reception in South Africa
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend a Creative Industries and Business Reception in South Africa | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

One of the commentators who has been speaking about the topic is Angela Levin. She spent time with the Duke of Sussex when she penned Harry: A Biography of a Prince in 2018.

During an appearance on GB News, Levin talked about the mock curtsy Meghan did in the pair’s Netflix docuseries and noted that Harry didn’t look like he was on board with her making a joke about that.

“Harry’s face was just stricken,” show host Isabelle Webster recalled.

Levin agreed and added: “He didn’t stop it. Why didn’t he do anything to stop it? It shows you not just who is in charge. But [Meghan] doesn’t care what [Prince Harry] really thinks because he would be very hurt. He loved the queen.”

Duke’s biographer suspects Meghan was calling shots when it came to their daughter’s name too

Another hot topic is what royal historian Robert Hardman wrote in his book titled Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story.

Hardman detailed a conversation he had with one of Queen Elizabeth’s senior Palace staffers about the Sussexes’ story that they asked the queen for permission and received her blessing to give their daughter her childhood nickname.

According to the book, that staffer said that was not the case and the queen was “as angry as I’d ever seen her” when Meghan and Harry started putting that out there. The Daily Mail reports that the late monarch’s aides told Hardman the queen was saying: “I don’t own the palaces, I don’t own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name. And now they’ve taken that.”

YouTube screenshot of Lilibet's first birthday via The Royal Family Channel
YouTube screenshot of Princess Lilibet photo via The Royal Family Channel

The way the queen was feeling is reportedly why Buckingham Palace refused attempts by the Sussexes to confirm their version of events.

Levin opined that Meghan was pushing that name more than Harry and even claimed that the former Suits star had “copyrighted” Lilibet before she gave birth to their daughter.

Levin alleged: “Meghan, even before Lilibet was born, had taken out the names officially so that she could use them to buy things and to identify them … 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.”