Prince William Reportedly Declined to Have Lilibet's Christening at Windsor

For several months, the public has been waiting to see Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s second-born, their daughter Lilibet Diana. The baby, who was born in June, still has yet to make her public debut—a pretty big deviation from the norm of the royal family (opens in new tab), when most women get trotted out with their newborns shortly after delivering them. We don’t even know what little Lilibet looks like, and it’s October!

But the swirling rumors that Harry and Meghan would take Lilibet to the UK for her christening at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor—and, on the way, perhaps heal some family rifts—have quieted down, and now we may know why. According to NBC royals correspondent Neil Sean, per the Express (opens in new tab), it was reportedly Prince William who vetoed the idea of hosting the christening at Windsor.

“Both Harry and Meghan were very keen to make that return and make sure that christening happened, particularly in front of Her Majesty The Queen,” Sean said, according to Express. “But that came to a grinding halt.”

He continued:

“[M]oving forward, there was one person who basically decided there wasn't an appetite for this and the person that seemingly is, so far, not willing to kiss and make up with his younger brother...According to a very good source, Prince William was the one who basically said 'no, we don't think this is going to work,' it wasn't a particularly good idea."

Express reached out to Kensington Palace for a comment, but the representatives declined.

With the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee to be the main focal point of 2022, it will be interesting to see if the brothers can heal their differences, since they’ll almost certainly have to spend more time together by then.