Has Queen Elizabeth met Lilibet?

Queen Elizabeth’s Final Meeting with Baby Lilibet

Just once, and only for a brief moment, did Queen Elizabeth II meet the little princess who bore her childhood nickname. Princess Lilibet, daughter of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, was born in June 2021—nearly a year before the monarch’s passing in September 2022. According to a new biography, Elizabeth II: In Private, the late Queen had only one opportunity to meet her great-granddaughter, Lilibet Diana, named affectionately after her.

The meeting took place at Balmoral, the royal family’s cherished Scottish estate, during the summer of 2022. The Queen, increasingly frail, welcomed her extended family as she often did in her final years. Though rarely seen in public by then, she made an effort to spend time with the youngest generation—a testament to her deep sense of duty and family.

Those close to the Palace have described the moment as tender and quiet. The Queen held the toddler briefly, smiled, and commented on how she already had “presence.” It was a fleeting but poignant encounter—symbolic, in hindsight, of a changing monarchy. Lilibet, still too young to remember, represents a new era, while the late Queen embodied nearly a century of tradition.

The name “Lilibet” itself is a nod to history. As a toddler, Elizabeth couldn’t pronounce her name and called herself “Lilibet”—a nickname her family used for years. That Harry and Meghan chose it for their daughter was both personal and reverent, a quiet tribute to the matriarch they knew would likely never know her namesake well.

Though their time together was short, that single meeting at Balmoral stands as a quiet bridge between two generations—one closing a long chapter, the other just beginning to write hers.