domenica 5 luglio 2015

The Christening of Princess Charlotte of Cambridge

This afternoon at 4.30pm GMT the christening of Princess Charlotte of Cambridge took place at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate.


Details of the service were published ahead of the ceremony on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's official website:

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have chosen two hymns, one lesson and two anthems for the christening of their daughter, Princess Charlotte.
The hymns are Praise to the Lord, The Almighty and Come Down, O Love Divine.
The lesson is from Matthew 18, verses 1-5, read by Mr. James Meade.
The anthems are I Will Sing With The Spirit and God Be In My Head, both by John Rutter.
Members of The Sandringham Church Choir are singing at the service.
The processional organ music is R. Vaughan Williams' Prelude on "Rhosymedre".
The recessional organ music is G. F. Handel's Overture and Allegro from Concerto VIII in A.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, is baptising Princess Charlotte. He is being supported by The Reverend Canon Jonathan Riviere, the Rector of the Sandringham group of parishes.

Princess Charlotte's was not the first royal christening to take place at St Mary Magdalene. Princess Eugenie was christened there on 23 December 1990 by the Bishop of Norwich, as was Prince John, the last child of King George V and Queen Mary, on 3 August 1905.


Prince William's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was christened at St Mary Magdalene as well, on 30 August 1961, having been born on 1 July of the same year at Park House on the estate.


During the service the Lily Font, a silver baptismal font commissioned by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1840 for the christening of their first child Victoria, Princess Royal, was used. Water from the River Jordan was poured from a solid silver ewer made in 1735 for the christening of George III.


The Cambridges walked to the Church from their country home at Amner. Majesty magazine reports that the Millson pram the Duchess of Cambridge pushed is exactly the same as the one that carried Prince Edward in 1965 - you can certainly say these prams are made to a high standard!



Prince George walked alongside his parents and looked utterly adorable in a white smocked shirt with red embroidery and red shorts, very reminiscent of the outfit his daddy wore 30 years ago when he went to meet new baby brother Prince Harry at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington:


Prince George was caught on camera peeking at his little sister in her pram:


And how precious did Princess Charlotte look? She wore the replica of the original Victorian christening gown made by Angela Kelly, also worn by big brother George at his own christening in 2013:



Only a limited number of close family and friends were in attendance at the service: besides the Cambridges, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Middletons and the five godparents, all of them chosen among personal friends and close relatives of the couple. The godparents were friends Sophie Carter, James Meade and Thomas van Straubenzee, and The Hon. Laura Fellowes and Adam Middleton, first cousins of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge respectively.  Prince Harry was absent as he's currently in Namibia for one of his charitable projects.

The Duchess of Cambridge was in a bespoke cream coat dress by Alexander McQueen and a white straw Jane Taylor hat with flower trim, both new pieces. She repeated her Mappin & Webb "Empress" white gold and diamond pendant, which she paired with new matching earrings:





The Queen was in a repeat rose-print silk dress and powder pink coat and Angela Kelly hat, first seen at Royal Ascot last year:




Nanny Maria was on hand in her Norland uniform:


Both the Duchess of Cornwall and Mrs. Middleton looked lovely in summery pastels:


Pippa Middleton wore a high-necked cream coat-dress, a bespoke piece by Emilia Wickstead, topped off with a cream straw cocktail pill-box hat with feather detail by Jane Taylor:


So, what did you think of today's events? Whose look did you like best? Share your views in a comment below!


Daily Mail articles here (main article), here (Prince George's look), here (the Duchess of Cambridge's look), here (the Duchess of Cornwall's look), here (royal chrisening robe) and here (font and ewer).

Mirror article here.