Kate Middleton Reacts to Baby Lili's Birth During Outing With Jill Biden

While visiting an English school with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, Kate Middleton was asked about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's newborn baby girl Lilibet "Lili" Mountbatten-Windsor.

By Corinne Heller Jun 11, 2021 2:37 PMTags
Watch: Kate Middleton "Can't Wait to Meet" New Niece Lilibet Diana

Kate Middleton says she hopes to soon meet her new niece, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's daughter Lilibet "Lili" Mountbatten-Windsor.

The Duchess of Cambridge, wife of Harry's brother Prince William, made her comments while visiting a school in Cornwall, England with U.S. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden on Friday, June 11, a week after the couple welcomed their second child in Southern California. The First Lady and President Joe Biden, world leaders and senior members of the royal family are taking part in several events for the G7 summit throughout the weekend.

When NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell asked Kate at a press conference if she had any wishes for her new niece, she said, "I wish her the very best. I can't wait to meet her. We haven't met her yet. I hope that will be soon."

Kate was also asked if she FaceTimed with the child. She responded, "No, I haven't."

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William's relationship with Harry started to worsen two years ago, even before the latter and Meghan announced their royal exit in January 2020. The brothers were last seen publicly together in April at the funeral of their grandfather Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's husband and their reunion, which came after a year, looked tense.

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They did not walk side-by-side as they joined their family in the procession. And during his quick solo trip home, Harry, whose then-pregnant wife remained in California with their 2-year-old son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, did not stay at the residence of William, Kate and their three children, Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 6, and Prince Louis, 3.

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As their royal exit was made official earlier this year, Harry and Meghan also gave a bombshell interview to Oprah Winfrey. Meghan claimed Kate made her cry days before she wed Harry in May 2018, and that contradictory press reports that stated she was the one who had left the Duchess of Cambridge in tears were untrue. Meghan also said Kate apologized to her.

Meghan also spoke about feelings of being controlled by the monarchy and even accused an unnamed royal of expressing concern over their then-unborn first child's skin color—after which William told a reporter they are "very much not a racist family." In addition, on his and Oprah's Apple TV+ docu-series The Me You Can't See, Harry spoke negatively about his childhood, worsening what has become a massive PR crisis for the royal family.

Despite ongoing tensions between the brothers and the past incident between the sisters-in-law, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge issued a public statement of congratulations to the couple last weekend after they announced their daughter's birth.

"We are all delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili," Kate and William said in an Instagram post. "Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie."

Many expect Harry to return to the United Kingdom and reunite with his brother at a scheduled ceremony in July at Kensington Palace for the unveiling of a statue of their late mother Princess Diana, after whom Lili is partially named, on what would have been her 60th birthday. The Duke of Sussex has not publicly confirmed any travel plans.

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