Why Meghan Markle, Prince Harry Already Have A Website For Their Daughter

Right before the birth of their second child, Lilibet Diana, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry quietly registered several domains in the baby’s name. Though the couple insisted they consulted with Queen Elizabeth before naming their new daughter in her honor, these domains seem to prove that the couple had this name in mind for a while before talking to the reigning monarch. So what’s going on here?

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Prince Harry, Meghan Markle’s Reason For Domain Purchases

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently confirmed that they’d bought several web domains in their newborn daughter’s name before her birth on June 4. The move raised eyebrows in certain circles, with some tabloids inferring the couple did so in order to make a commercial gain from the baby’s name.

The less-than-a-month-old infant’s name had already stirred up controversy, with some royal commentators chastising the Sussexes for using a private, family name. “Lilibet,” after all, is Queen Elizabeth’s childhood nickname and an affectionate moniker that her recently passed husband, Prince Philip, called her.

Lilibet Diana’s First Scandal

Soon after the baby’s birth, and the subsequent mini-scandal about her name, a spokesperson for the couple told People, “The Duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement, in fact, his grandmother was the first family member he called. During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honor,” adding, “Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.”

Now that questions are popping up about the domain purchases, the spokesperson has once again explained Markle and Prince Harry’s reasoning. “As is often customary with public figures,” the spokesperson told People, “a significant number of domains of any potential names that were considered were purchased by their team to protect against the exploitation of the name once it was later chosen and publicly shared.”

The Telegraph reports that LilbetDiana.com and LiliDiana.com were among the domains purchased. Since the couple might have been considering a number of different names for their baby girl, it’s possible that there were several other domain purchases for all the main contenders. The domains are currently not active. This same process took place when the couple’s first child, Archie, was born. His name is on a website used for Prince Harry and Markle’s charitable foundation, Archwell.

Controversy Seems To Follow The Sussexes

It seems like nearly everything the couple touches is caught up in scandal. The two recently faced backlash after partnering with Procter & Gamble on Archwell. The giant conglomerate owns Olay as a subsidiary, and some chided the couple because Olay offers a skin whitening product. Markle and Prince Harry famously confessed during their interview with Oprah Winfrey that a member of the royal family had questioned what color their child’s skin would be.

Some critics called the partnership hypocritical as a result, though obviously neither Markle or Prince Harry have any control over the giant corporation’s subsidiaries, of which it has dozens. This latest domain controversy seems to be of the same ilk. In this case, the couple is simply doing what many other famous individuals have done in the past in order to protect their children. Any parent would do the same.