Why the Queen was unable to spend a lot of time with Lilibet during their first meeting

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle flew to the UK with their two little ones, Archie Harrison and Lilibet Diana, for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations earlier this month.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex kept a low profile over the long weekend, and only made one official appearance together at a special church service at St Paul's Cathedral.

Although royal fans were excited by the prospect of seeing Archie and Lilibet, the couple also kept their children out of the spotlight. However, they did throw their daughter a birthday party while they were at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor and later shared an adorable photograph of her to mark the occasion.

Due to covid travel restrictions and security issues, the Queen was yet to meet her great-granddaughter - who was named after both the monarch and Harry's mother, the late Princess Diana - but they finally united for the first time and enjoyed some quality time together.

While it would have been an exciting moment for the family, the Queen reportedly banned any photographs from being taken and was only able to spend less than an hour with Lilibet.

With many wondering why Her Majesty's time with the one year old was so brief, an insider told US Weekly that it was down to the fact that the Queen was trying to save energy for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations over the weekend given her recent issues with mobility.

Royal expert Jonathan Sacerdoti claimed: 'She was working very hard to maintain her strength. I think it’s totally understandable that she was saving her energy as best she could for all the events that she wanted to be at if she possibly could.

'We’re talking about someone in their nineties and a baby. We saw that she did manage to appear several times in public, and that’s great.'

Either way, it sounds like the Queen and Lilibet had a lovely first meeting and the tiny royal also got to spend time with other members of the family at her birthday party, including Zara and Mike Tindall's children.

How sweet!