Harry and Meghan's daughter, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, was born at a hospital in Santa Barbara, California, on Saturday. Photo / Sussexroyal, Instagram
Harry and Meghan's daughter, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, was born at a hospital in Santa Barbara, California, on Saturday. Photo / Sussexroyal, Instagram
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will take "several months" of parental leave to spend time with their newborn daughter, The Telegraph understands.
Their decision was made "in alignment" with Archewell's parental leave policy that allows staff 20 weeks of paid leave, a significantly more generous package than is normal in the US.
The couple's daughter, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, was born at a hospital in Santa Barbara, California, on Friday (Saturday NZT).
Her brother Archie, 2, was "excited" to welcome the new addition to the family and "very happy" to have a little sister.
Harry and Meghan with their newborn son Archie at Windsor Castle on May 8, 2019. Photo / AP
The choice of name is said to reflect how close the Sussexes have remained, despite a wider family rift, to the Queen, who coined the pet name as a little girl when she was unable to say Elizabeth.
Buckingham Palace aides confirmed that Her Majesty was "aware" the couple had chosen to use the name for their daughter before it was announced.
As the Sussexes settled into life as a family of four at home in Montecito, California, royal aides also remained tightlipped about whether the monarch or senior members of the family had been introduced to the new arrival by video link.
While members of the Royal family were told the happy news shortly after Lilibet's birth, palace aides were kept in the dark, meaning they were caught on the hop when the public announcement was made from Los Angeles on Sunday evening.
The same happened when the couple announced that the Duchess was pregnant in February, perhaps reflecting the Sussexes' distrust of the institution and fears that the details might be leaked.
A page from the Duchess of Sussex's new children's book, The Bench. Photo / Duchess of Sussex
The couple have made clear in recent months their disdain for "the men in grey suits" and palace courtiers, claiming their own staff had failed to publicly defend them.
The Duchess' children's book, The Bench, is published on Tuesday and features an illustration that appears to show Prince Harry and Archie feeding their rescue chickens, while Meghan cradles her newborn daughter in a nearby vegetable patch.
Meanwhile, it emerged that the domain name lilibetdiana.com was snapped up in the US on the day the baby was born, two days before the public announcement, fuelling speculation that the couple had bought it either to prevent others cashing in or with the intention of setting up a foundation in her name.
The Duke, who earlier this year was named "chief impact officer" for a mental wellness app called BetterUp, is entitled to eight weeks of paid parental leave from the San Francisco-based company.
He will briefly break his leave to return to the UK later this month to join his brother, Prince William, for the unveiling of a statue of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, at Kensington Palace on July 1, which would have been her 60th birthday.
The length of time both the Duke and Duchess have opted to take off work to bond with their daughter is in stark contrast to the leave they took when Archie was born in May 2019.
Three days after his son's birth, Prince Harry travelled to The Hague for the launch of the one-year countdown to the Invictus Games.
The Duchess took around four months of maternity leave after the birth, returning to official duties in September to launch a clothing collection for the charity SmartWorks.
But she is thought to have spent much of the summer working on both that and the launch of the September edition of Vogue she guest edited, as well as other projects, including the creation of their now defunct foundation, Sussex Royal.
"There was no maternity leave, there was no summer break," one close aide told the Telegraph later that year.
It was that October when the Duchess gave a candid interview to ITV's Tom Bradby in South Africa, tearfully stating: "Not many people have asked if I'm OK". The following month the couple left the UK for Canada. Meghan, 39, and Archie have never returned.
The US currently has no national statutory paid maternity, paternity or parental leave, although California is one of several states that has passed its own laws, allowing employees between 60-70 per cent of their average weekly earnings for a maximum of eight weeks.
President Joe Biden recently announced plans to introduce new laws requiring employers to offer 12 weeks of paid parental leave.
