Christening Madness is upon us! Seriously. I can’t believe how excited people are getting about Prince George’s christening. It felt like Duchess Kate and Prince William were trying to make the christening into a low-key event, but it’s looking more and more like it’s going to be the biggest media-heavy event of the month. The christening goes down tomorrow, and I’m hoping we’ll have photos from outside the event – I don’t think cameras will be allowed in the chapel whatsoever. Sources claim Kate will wear McQueen. But what about Cressida? As we discussed yesterday, sources claimed that Cressida had been invited to the christening. But People Mag shuts it down:
Prince Harry and Cressida Bonas might be getting serious, but they’re not quite ready to attend sacred royal family occasions together.
Despite reports over the weekend saying Bonas was mulling over an invitation to this Wednesday’s Christening of Harry’s nephew Prince George, the 24-year-old in fact has not been asked and wasn’t expecting to be, those close to her say.
“It was always so unlikely that she would be invited. To say she is shy and mulling it over is rubbish,” a family friend tells PEOPLE.
An appearance at such an intimate royal family occasion would also put unwanted pressure on the couple. “If she went to this totally private service, it would be tantamount to saying they were about to be engaged,” a well-placed observer says.
The guest list for the service, to be held at the Chapel Royal in St. James’s Palace, is being kept to immediate family of George’s parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and friends who have been chosen as godparents of the now 3-month-old boy.
One man who certainly will be there is the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. He will conduct the service, and gives William and Kate some advice about the ups and downs of parenthood in a video released Tuesday.
“What a treat; what an amazing gift; what wonderful times that you will have,” he says. “There’ll be great times and tough times – there always are with children. Through Christening, you’re bringing God into the middle of it all.”
At the 45-minute service, the Archbishop will splash water on George’s head three times, rather than immersing him in the font at the Chapel Royal. He will then make the sign of the cross on his forehead. “It’s an extraordinary moment,” he says, “because that is the sign by which we understand that this person belongs to God.”
If the christening was really going to be such a private and Middleton-heavy event, I would say that Cressida’s appearance would be tantamount to an engagement announcement. But! It doesn’t really look like the guest list is all that elite. Us Weekly had an epic story about christening, and apparently Will and Kate invited a bunch of people that don’t have much to do with anything, like the midwives who helped Kate deliver Prince George. I mean, that’s nice that the midwives are invited, but William’s aunts and uncles aren’t invited!
Let the countdown begin! In less than two days, Prince William and Kate Middleton will present their firstborn child, 3-month-old Prince George, to be christened in a private ceremony at St. James’s Palace in London. Plans and preparations for the Oct. 23 event have been under way for some time now — and Us Weekly has new details on the who, what, where, when, and why.
As previously reported, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge chose the Chapel Royal for George’s christening in part because of the intimacy it offers. It’s also where the body of Prince William’s late mother, Princess Diana, was kept for some time before her funeral in 1997.
“It’s a special place for William,” a source shares with Us. “Having the service there is his way of involving his mother, who he so wishes could be here for all of this.”No one else could ever take her place, of course, but other loved ones can and will be in attendance. Kensington Palace won’t release a guest list until the day of the event, but “close members of both families” are expected — including, of course, George’s great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, his grandfather Prince Charles, his uncle Prince Harry, and his maternal grandparents Carole and Michael Middleton, along with the Duchess’ siblings, Pippa and James.
A source tells Us that the midwives who helped deliver the royal baby have also been invited. All told, the guest list includes fewer than 50 people.
The ceremony is expected to go on for 45 minutes, though the christening itself — conducted by Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby — will take only 25 minutes, with prayers and hymns sung by a choir. “They have to follow a pretty tight schedule,” a source tells Us, “so if George is crying, the show must go on, as they say.”
Afterward, family and friends will gather at Clarence House for a reception hosted by Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. There, George’s parents will present the top tier of their wedding cake, which they saved from their April 2011 nuptials. “It will just be a small champagne reception,” a source tells Us.
For those not among the royal family’s inner circle, portraits will be released on Thursday, Oct. 24. And well-wishers are encouraged to donate to charity in lieu of sending gifts.
“The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are incredibly grateful for the support and goodwill being expressed at this happy time. Their Royal Highnesses are grateful, too, for the many gifts they have already received,” the palace says. “To harness this extraordinary generosity of spirit, they suggest people might at this time look to support those more in need; perhaps a children’s charity local to them,” the palace continues. “Alternatively, you could look to support Imperial College Healthcare Charity, which is the charity of the hospital where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s baby was born.”
Alright. So the guest list includes the Queen, Charles, Camilla, Carole & Michael Middleton, Harry, Pippa… and the midwives. And Pippa will bring a date, I’m sure. But Harry won’t be able to. And no aunts and uncles and probably only one or two cousins (depending on who will be a godparent). Because I guess Kate figures that if William invites Princess Anne, then Kate should be able to invite Dodgy Uncle Gary? I bet the York princesses aren’t invited either. I do not get this.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I don’t get it either. What are they trying to say here? Are the midwives going to be a huge part of George’s life? Then they should invite the nannies as well.
It most probably has to do with royal protocol. If they start inviting the Princess Royal and the sons of the Queen, they would be obligated to Invite other royals of High rank from the UK and abroad. So if they don’t invite them, they can keep the pomp and circumstance to a minimum..
No shade on the midwives, please!
Midwives have a very intimate relationship with the mothers they deliver – you can’t judge unless you’ve had a midwifery delivery …
My son is 23 and I still remember the midwife who delivered him (Sally!)because she’s the reason I became a midwife 5 years later!
Kudos to them for thinking to invite the midwives. That is a selfless act for a couple that has shown to be very selfish over a decade.
How is that selfless? Has the definition changed? Geez.
Me, too! In fact, my midwives retirement was when I stopped having biological kids and adopted instead. (We always knew wanted to have both bio and adopted) I cannot imagine birthing children without her!
wonderful, GiGi, truly. Love that you have bio and adopted kids! awesome!
How many midwives does one need when having one baby?
I deeply doubt that Pippa will be bringing a date. And I can see where the invitations would stop where it has and not extend to William and Kate’s aunts and uncles – because we all know it would create a snowball effect.
As for the midwives – as Kimble said, Midwives have a very intimate relationship with the mothers. We will never truly know all that went down during the delivery. If they were invited, that means something special to William and Kate and it shouldn’t be questioned.
In the end, prince or not, William and Kate have the right to choose who will attend this special event for their son.
Oh c’mon. There is no doubt pan-faced Pippa WILL bring a date, precisely FOR the media attention. She wants someone (anyone really) to notice and care that she’s about to get engaged to her handsome nobody from nowheresville.
I bet Pippa misses her sister. You never see them hanging out anymore like the old days.
B*tch please, no one here in the UK gives a flying f***.
Yay! I’m glad to hear that. Let them do what they want for their sons christening. It seems like people are just looking for something to criticize.
I seriously don’t understand the drama about this guest list. Grandparents and siblings from both sides are being invited. I have no idea of Pippa or James will bring their SOs, but it sounds like Harry (and maybe Cressida as well) didn’t want to bring Cressida because it would have been too big a step with all the media attention on him, so that’s their call. I think inviting the midwives is an incredibly nice gesture. And I get why they wouldn’t have invited great-aunts and -uncles — you invite one, you have to invite all of them, and probably their kids, and all of a sudden your small ceremony has become way bigger than planned.
I agree completely. It’s amazing how these things start to snowball if you let them, and royal girlfriends and boyfriends don’t attend these events until the marriage is a foregone conclusion, so Cressida isn’t exactly a huge surprise.
I’ll bet the list of non-invitees – Anne, Andrew, Cressida, et al – are pretty chill about it. They probably didn’t expect to be invited.
True. However:
1 – it’s not like budget for the champagne is an issue.
2 – this is a future king being christened and therefore it is somewhat of an historical event.
3 – not sure if this is true and too lazy to look it up, but I think I read that princess beatrice was christened in the same chapel with about 100 guests.
Yeah, no idea why this is being shaded as a “Middleton-heavy” event. He’s inviting his parents and sibling and grandparents. She’s inviting her parents and siblings. Am I missing something? Jeez. The whole Kate/Middleton shading thing is just getting old, especially when the drama is made-up.
In Denmark the royals always invite the midwives – maybe it’s a royal thing?
I don’t see what the big deal is.
If I remember correctly, the teams that delivered both daughters of Spain’s future King were invited to the baptisms.
As for Cressida not being invited, who cares? She’s alright, but she’s probably not official girlfriend yet and contrary to tabloid reports, she and Harry may not be that serious after all.
Royal BFs/GFs, especially for the 3rd in line to the throne, rarely attend official and family events. If/when they do attend together, not just attending the same event, it’s the clearest sign that the relationship is very serious, possibly an engagement is near.
I think there’s been a precedent set by previous royals who have invited some of the delivery staff to royal christenings. And it is a nice gesture, even if the people won’t be involved in the child’s life for the long run. I’m pretty sure the doctors who delivered William were there for his christening.
I haven’t researched this, but I don’t think the number of people invited is that far off previous christenings, either.
What is different is that godparents and attendees weren’t announced ahead of time.
I’m not so sure about the Windsors, but for the other European Crown Prince couples’ children, the baptisms/christenings in the last 10 years have been huge affairs with extended family members invited and they were broadcast on national TV.
I remember when Infanta Leonor of Spain was baptized, Spain’s Prime Minister at the time was invited along with his wife.
George, on the other hand, will be christened in a Chapel so there might not be a lot of room for everyone to attend. 60 people is fine for a christening.
The details usually trickle in close to the date itself, not given out in one go. Makes the press hungrier and the frenzy higher speculating about the venue, menu, and the godparents.
Where they dropped the ball was in releasing the info that Anne, Sophie and Andrew wouldn’t be at the event. They should have kept this secret until after the official photos have been published and the guest list revealed. Now people are speculating why the guest list has “random” people and not extended family.
The Windsor christenings are typically family events, not public events. Someone down thread did say that there were 60 people at Will’s own christening, and that Margaret didn’t attend, so they are probably following the same tradition.
Outside of WillKate, it’s interesting that the head of the church of England has historically had private christenings. You would think it would be a public affair, but apparently not.
Suze – I wonder if it’s also about the “ranks” of the royal families compared to the British RF.
It’s undeniable that the Windsors are the most popular and visible of the royals. The pomp and grandeur in royal events are always associated with the way the British RF does things.
It just seems to me that other royal families try their best to impress and show off their lives to the public, to prove that they can also throw lavish events hence the often televised family events and State dinners.
The Windsors don’t have to follow such things. They’re the ones setting the precedent.
Yes, Sachi, I would believe that. There is probably a great deal of “we don’t do that because we don’t have to” involved.
I’ve never been to a christening, but don’t these types of invites generally include a +1? I mean, aren’t the mid wives allowed to bring their partners/spouses?
Some families throw big parties for christenings, but they typically aren’t like weddings with lots of random friends and acquaintances there — who may need a date because they don’t know many other attendees. It’s primarily a religious/social event for family and close friends. You’re not inviting co-workers, friendly acquaintances, or your mom’s second cousin — like you would at a big wedding.
So it would be completely reasonable to not include +1s who aren’t spouses or long-term partners at the christening — especially if attendance is limited.
Exactly, in my experience christenings aren’t like weddings. Prior to all the publicity over this event, I had never heard of people bringing dates to christenings (unless it was a long-term live in situation).
BRF protocol usually only invites the significant other when they have achieved the status of fiancé/fiancée not just bf/gf (other Royals et al have gotten more lax with this but it used to be fairly normal for all Princely/ Grand Ducal/ Royal/ Imperial Families to follow this rule) . So I was skeptical when I read Cressida was invited as she’s not Harry’s fiancée. Obviously Pippa isn’t Royal so that standard doesn’t apply w/her. So we’ll see.
I personally don’t care who is or is not invited as it’s not my kid nor is it my event. William & Kate will have to deal with whatever the fallout of excluding or inviting someone, not me. With that being said, I think inviting the midwives is very sweet. Your midwife/ nursing/ medical team is with you from pretty much the moment you pee on the stick until after you walk out of the hospital. They are such a God send — especially for first time mothers! It’s nice to see that honoured. Most are forgotten.
I can understand why the midwives were invited. To this day, I still have a special fondness for the OB/GYN who delivered my daughter.
Prediction: after Charles becomes King, he will withdraw to private life and forfeit his title. If he doesn’t, William will. The monarchy is a tired institution but is hanging on as long as the Queen lives.
From your lips to God’s ears.. and the queen’s!
If Harry wants her there, he will bring her. Her significance is if she’s Harry’s girlfriend and he will decide. Pippa’s “date” wouldn’t get his own invitation either. Non-story.
Not true. Sorry.
@ bettyrose
Heh. Not in my experience. Christenings tend to be a family affair where you don’t bring a date. Unless it’s a fiancee/serious relationship. Including midwives ( they had more than one???) is a lovely gesture.
Overall, I get the feeling that Will and Kate get mileage out of the Grand Snub. Seems to be their MO these days.
The midwives don’t have much to do with anything?! What? Uh, there’s that whole pregnancy and labor thing — the baby was not delivered by stork.
If it’s just immediate family and godparents, how is the list topping out at 60 people? The math doesn’t add up, y’all.
Who was at William and Harry’s christenings? (I know LAK will know this) They had some of Charles’ siblings-but even those were private affairs without a huge guest list right?
My sister didn’t invite all of my aunts and uncles and cousins to her kids baptisms. You invite one you have to invite them all. I don’t get why people are making a big deal about it. Anne had a prescheduled trip already.
There were 60 guests at Williams’s christening, including the four doctors who helped deliver him and Diana’s parents, stepmother, and grandmother. Not there: Charles’ brother Andrew and his aunt Margaret.
So literally exactly the same as what is rumored for George’s christening. This is such a non-story.
In fairness, I think Andrew was in the Falklands at the time, which is why he wasn’t there. Anne wasn’t there either, I think because she might have been offended at not being a god parent. I know that was the case with Harry’s christening.
“An appearance at such an intimate royal family occasion would also put unwanted pressure on the couple. “If she went to this totally private service, it would be tantamount to saying they were about to be engaged,” a well-placed observer says.”
—-
Weren’t we just hearing that an engagement was imminent? I love when tabloids contradict themselves. And it only took a week…
This is the most publicized private royal event ever.
They could probably have diverted some of this attention by handing out the guest list and list of godparents a few weeks ago and just let the press pick over it and make of it what they would.
Instead there’s this incredible frenzy over an event that was touted as “low-key and private” and “the new way of doing things”.
The new way makes the old way seem very stable and discreet.
Who’s excited about this? Haven’t seen a thing except on here.
And I seriously doubt Harry & Cressida are anything, but casual. I keep hearing how in love they are, but like Waity & Bill I don’t believe what the media is promoting.
I gotta say, as far as Kate and Wills go, this is kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel-level gossip.
I love gossip about Kate and Wills probably more than any other gossip (except Gwyneth Paltrow gossip), but I just can’t get excited about this, LOL.
The mixed up random nature of the plans that have been made are a reflection of will and kate themselves.
They just seem to view royalty as a way to have fun and pamper themselves.
.
Um, nobody from Diana’s family is invited? A sister? Nothing? Just saying, if it is all about Wm choosing the chapel to feel close to his late mother….
It’s funny how quickly “no aunts and uncles” emerged from what’s actually just a royal-diary situation: Edward, Sophie, and Anne all had other events on their calendars for the day chosen for the Christening. Is that bad? Hard to tell — the Queen, Charles, and Camilla may have been pretty well booked and the options may have been limited. Or maybe it was deliberate.
We don’t know if Andrew and his kids are invited. We don’t know if Anne’s kids will show up. This entire “they didn’t invite the royal family! those damn encroaching Middletons!” plot could expire tomorrow morning.
I could see not inviting extended family because of Dodgy Uncle Gary. I could also see this christening as part of Charles’s long-running campaign to “shrink the monarchy” and leave his siblings out in the cold. (Seriously. People underestimate that man and his staff at their peril.) But until tomorrow, we just don’t know.
Man…I don’t know about eating a cake that has been next to some frozen peas for two years. Am I the only one sort of ooged out by that? I’m Sure I was impeccably preserved but still..
We saved some wedding cake for our first anniversary.
And English wedding cake is quite different. It’s usually a fruitcake (not like American fruitcake!!) with booze, marzipan and hard icing. And is usually made way ahead and kept unfrozen until it’s used. It’s probably been frozen since the wedding though. Two and a half years is a long time. 🙂
i love wedding cake – The British kind. I’m genuinely puzzled by American wedding cakes.
Why shold she invite Cressida? She isn’t her sister-in-law or anything close to it.
I have been a real supporter of Kate, now I’m not so sure? The Royal Wannabe Pippa, is bringing a boyfriend? None of Charles siblings were invited? I see the direction this marriage is headed… Next her family will be given honorary titles.
Remember this is still speculation. Which is why I don’t get too invested in the stuff.
And random titles haven’t been handed out in quite some time. It’s pretty much only Royals who get peerages now. Even Thatcher only got a lifetime peerage and that’s still a pretty damn rare occurrence. So extremely unlikely the Middleton’s are or will get one.
It’s official: Kate Middleton has no friends.
When you’ve decided to keep a guest list small and intimate, excluding your husbands aunts and uncles, your brother-in-law’s longterm serious girlfriend, and yet — the Midwives make the cut — the obvious conclusion is that you’ve got nobody else close to you. No close girl friends. Nobody that “feels like a sister.”
(P.S. I’m not shading the midwives, midwives are awesome. I’m pointing out how awfully few people Kate Middleton must have in her inner circle that the midwives rank within the 60 closest)
It’s traditional for the royals to invite the people who delivered the baby. William had four doctors at his.
Well, it was announced that Kate had multiple gynecologists attending to the royal birth canal too. So add them to the list of her “intimate” invitees.
My point remains: the list will have many longterm friends of William, and instead of friends, Kate invites a gaggle of her vagina tenders.
This, above all, is the strangest thing about Kate Middleton. Where are her friends?
I suspect whatever friends she did have after college eventually told her at some point that the chasing and waiting for William was nuts…and she probably cut them off. Leaving only her sister. Think about it, if one of your friends was in such a one way relationship for SUCH a long time…wouldn’t you have said something? She gambled and never took her eyes off the goal…and probably couldn’t afford any intimates who suggested it might not be a worthy goal. And once she and William “reunited” after their break in 2007 or whatever, she wasn’t going to have any potential naysayers around her…or any potential liabilities (ie friends with loose lips or paps on speed dial) given that the phone tapping scandal hadn’t been revealed yet, I’m sure there was a healthy paranoia about all acquaintances, and old friends…
Sounds like a boring time to me. 🙂
(I can’t believe I am going to defend Kate again! Please somebody help me)
Pippa and James bf,gf will be there because they have extended this invitation to them, this is not Kate and William inviting them directly. William is very close to Harry and probably the only member he really loves and cares about in his family, so if Cressid is not there it’s because Harry didn’t invite her and not because he is not allowed to bring plus 1 when Kate’s siblings are. Whether CB is there or not depends on Harry and I don’t think w&k should invite her directly. Plus this list is all William and Charles, 1 lives to snub his family and probably don’t want publicity hungry uncle Gary of Kate and other wants to completely cut of his siblings and their families, so this sounds like got the blessing of both w&c.
Last but not the least I don’t see anyone crazy or really looking forward or discussing the christening. Sure people will comment when photos are available but nobody is going crazy maybe except royal fans on tumblr.
SMACK!!!!!!
Did that help?
That must be a terrifying experience for a 3-month old baby.
And 2+ year old cake? Gross.
What must be a terrifying experience? Having holy water sprinkled on your head? No more terrifying than having a bath. Some babies cry, some babies gurgle, some babies burp, some sleep. If they cry, they stop in a minute. Babies usually take it in their stride.
As for the cake – remember that British wedding cake is not like US wedding cake. Traditional English wedding cake is a fruitcake, usually made with raisins, ground almonds, cherries and marzipan. The top layer of the wedding cake is called the “christening cake” which the couple is saves for the baptism of their first child. So it’s not just Kate and William – it is a normal tradition.
While I do understand, and it follows logic, that the couple would ask for people to donate to a charity instead of sending gifts, I would love to see the couple actually donate to a charity as well for all that God has seen fit to bless them with.
Waity is always cheap, common and tacky no wonder she doesnt want cressie to outshine her, oh yes she can, JEALOUS WAITY WITH NO FRIENDS!!
Over & above all these oddball people attending this service…. This is a milestone in a family’s life. Operative word is family & none of Will’s aunts or uncles are invited? I realize these aren’t normal people, but I don’t get this at all? Are any of Diana’s family attending? This child is not exclusively Kates’.
How sad that we have overlooked Diana’s family. That is a very good question.
Not only is this a milestone for a family, but all members of the BRF arguably work toward upholding George’s birthright. Think of all of the hardwork Anne, etc, engage in, think of what they do to keep their lives circumspect. It’s a “firm” after all and this is the christening of the future head of that firm. Disinviting them and instead inviting all the regulars who attend the stag-do’s for this child – this symbol of monarchy and CoE, makes it all seem like a farce.
I can see if dates conflicted and if the extended family is not fussed, but I think that the honor of an invitation was certainly in order here.
I’m surprised that Diana’s family was not honored.
But perhaps we should wait until we see the actual guest list – all of this could be wrong.
I hope someone is there to represent Diana, other than her sons and her ring.
It all seems so hypocritical that the Midd clan doesn’t even go to church. And Bill doesn’t either, except on special holidays. He is supposed to be the Defender of the Faith when (if) he becomes king? A bit arrogant, yes?
I’ll wager most of the guest are Will’s drinking buddies who will help celebrate the little future Defender of Faith’s christening with a right royal pub crawl afterwards when his nursing wife and grandmother retire for the evening, and the midwives take their little souvenir and go home to upload their precious photos to Facebook.
Oh, how ordinary!
BTW, when Will talks about being ordinary, does he mean like everyone else in the real world or does he mean being allowed to live his enormously privileged life without any scrutiny whatsoever?
Hah!
He wants to be the normal type who vacations when he pleases, interferes with press and freedom of speech rights whenever he pleases, forces his very ordinary cheap and tacky wife on the whole world and expects everyone to applaud and proclaim she is a true princess. He wants all this so he can enjoy a pampered life in private without questions or demands from the outside world.
Yes, that’s how normal Bill Middleton is.
Willie Bonkers is acting like he has no intention of being king after grandma goes.
I am sorry, but Cressida’s teeth are crooked and aren’t great. Ten bucks those will be straightened out before any “engagement”….
Cressie has way much georgeous HAIR no extensions needed, and her LONG LEGS ARE OF course georgeous,, if she gets a stylist that girl will kill kate!!