The late Queen Elizabeth II’s first meeting with her namesake great-granddaughter took place during Princess Lilibet’s only visit to the UK in 2022. The meeting, which was also their last, occurred just three months before her death – and during celebrations for her Platinum Jubilee.

Recalling the meeting, Harry shared in his memoir Spare that his late beloved grandmother appeared “bemused” with Archie and Lilibet, who were just three and one at the time.

Speaking of leaving the UK after her funeral, the Duke of Sussex wrote: “The following morning, Meg and I left for America. For days and days we couldn’t stop hugging the children, couldn’t let them out of our sight, though I also couldn’t stop picturing them with granny, the final visit.”

Discussing their meeting just weeks prior, he added: “Archie was making deep, chivalrous bows, his baby sister Lilibet cuddling the monarch’s shins.”

Harry then revealed a two-word comment that the late monarch made about Archie and Lilibet, he shared that she called them the “sweetest children” – but appeared “bemused”.

He added: “She’d expected them to be a bit more… American, I think? Meaning, in her mind, more rambunctious.

“Now, while overjoyed to be home again, doing drop-offs again, reading Giraffes Can’t Dance again, I couldn’t stop remembering.”

A royal expert previously revealed how Harry had been keen for the late Queen to take a picture with his daughter, who is now aged four.

Rumours, at the time, suggested that she refused due to a bloodshot eye. Royal expert Camilla Tominey told the Telegraph: “”When the couple made another beeline for Windsor Castle, travelling straight there after landing at Farnborough Airport, she refused their request to have professional photographs taken with Archie, three, and her namesake Lilibet, one.

“Claiming she had a bloodshot eye, she adroitly denied the Sussexes the photo opportunity they craved. Harry was “persistent”, according to those party to the meeting, expressing a desire to get an official snap of the two Lilibets together at some point in the future. But of course, it was never to be. She died three months later.”