Meghan Markle, Prince Harry's daughter finally added to royal line of succession

The newborn daughter of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, has officially been added to the royal line of succession more than seven weeks after her birth.

According to Fox News, the official royal website was updated on Monday, after the family caught backlash over the weekend once people noticed that Lilibet had not been added to the succession line in a timely manner, following her birth in June 2021.

Lilibet whose name is a tribute to both Queen Elizabeth II and Harry's late mother, Princess Diana, now sits at her rightful place as eighth in line to the throne, according to the official succession list on the Royal Family's website.

Lilibet's inclusion on the list bumps the embattled Prince Andrew down to number nine on the royal line of succession and places her just after her older brother, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, who the Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed in 2019.

This delay in adding Lilibet to the official line of succession was first spotted by a news outlet. In addition to flagging the omission, the outlet also reported for comparison that Archie was added to the list two weeks after his birth.

When Prince William and Kate Middleton's third child, Louis, was born, his name was added to the list after 12 days. When royals Zara and Mike Tindall's son Lucas was born in March of this year, the baby's name was also added right away.

The delay comes after Meghan and Harry alleged in a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in March that they were mistreated by the other royals before they made the decision to step back from their duties within the family and move to California to live without the family's resources.

Markle, who is biracial, claimed that prior to Archie's birth, there were concerns among royal family members about how dark her child's skin would be.

The couple has since cut deals with Netflix and Spotify. As per Fox News, the latest venture for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be Harry's USD 20 million book deal for a memoir that many believe will share even more details about his time in the royal family.

( With inputs from ANI )