Piers Morgan calls the naming of Harry and Meghan's new baby after the Queen 'ironic'

• Harry and Meghan said they named Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor in part after the Queen.
• Piers Morgan called it ironic, saying the couple had spent recent weeks "trashing the royal family."
• "Maybe it's their way of reaching out - as the Americans say - to the royals," Morgan said.

Piers Morgan continued his commentary on the lives of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with an appearance on Australia's "Today" program on Monday, when he gave his opinion on the couple naming their newborn daughter Lilibet "Lili" Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

In a statement announcing their daughter's birth, the couple said the name Lilibet was taken from Queen Elizabeth II's family nickname and the middle name, Diana, was chosen to honor Harry's late mother, Princess Diana.

"It's quite ironic, isn't it," Morgan said. "You have this couple who have been trashing the royal family and the monarchy for the last few weeks and they have named the baby after the Queen, who is, of course, the head of the royal family and the monarchy."

Morgan continued to speculate whether the couple were attempting to mend their relationship with the royal family by naming their daughter after the Queen.

"Maybe it's their way of reaching out - as the Americans say - to the royals and wanting some kind of end to this on-running feud," he said.

Morgan's comments came just hours after he tweeted that he would respect the couple's "pleas" for privacy and would not comment on the arrival of their second child.

Over the weekend, The Daily Mail reported that palace officials were "unaware" the couple had welcomed their second child until after the announcement was made on their Archewell Foundation website.

In a statement hours later, the palace said the royal family was "delighted" by the news.

"The Queen, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed and are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex," the statement said.

Lilibet is eighth in line to the British throne after the couple's first child, Archie, who became seventh in line upon his birth on May 6, 2019.

The couple first announced on Valentine's Day that they were expecting their second child. And they announced during their interview with Oprah Winfrey in March that they were expecting a girl.

"To have any child, any one or any two would've been amazing, but to have a boy and then a girl - what more could you ask for?" Harry said. "Now we've got our family. We've got the four of us, our two dogs."