Diana's soul hovers over Charlotte's baptism
From hymns to Prince George’s outfit to the choice of godparents, William and Kate have made many nods to their son and daughter’s grandmother. Decryption.
Charlotte, Elizabeth, Diana. Just in the first names of the little princess slips a tribute to her late and beloved grandmother, Diana, Princess of Wales. And at the baptism of their daughter, Kate and William wanted the memory of Diana to be at the heart of the ceremony. From hymns to Prince George’s outfit to the choice of godfathers and godmothers, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have given many nods to the "Princess of Hearts". Decryption of a ceremony that "Diana could have organized herself", according to the British press.
The church
While several members of the royal family, including Elizabeth II and Princes Charles and William, were baptized at Buckingham Palace in London, Kate and William opted for Norfolk and St Mary Magdalene Church, even where Diana was baptized on August 30, 1961. It is also in this church, next to the new Cambridge mansion, Anmer Hall, and located on the royal property of Sandringham, that the Windsors celebrate Christmas each year. Among the chants that resounded in the church was Prelude on Rhosymedre, by Vaughan Williams, a song Diana chose when she married Prince Charles in 1981.
George's costume
The royal reporters were speechless when they saw the toddler arrive. With his smocked white blouse with red thread embroidery and red panties, the future King of England looked like his father, Prince William, 31 years earlier. The Duke of Cambridge was dressed in almost identical attire when he visited the clinic where Harry had just been born in 1984. This wink is by no means accidental, Kensington palace said.
Already during the traditional Trooping The Color parade, last June, George had appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in a blue ensemble, twin of the one worn in 1984 by his father on the same occasion. It remains to be seen if this vintage trend will continue and if it will also benefit Charlotte!
The godfathers and the godmothers
Kate and William surprised everyone by only giving Charlotte five Godparents, not seven like they did for George. Among them is a niece of Diana, Lady Laura Fellowes. Likewise, Kate chose her cousin Adam Middleton. The other three are close friends of the Cambridges, like Thomas van Straubenzee. The distinguished thirty-something was in elementary school with William and his uncle was a friend of Diana's. What surprised was the total absence of members of the royal family.
The press sees it as a further sign of the supposed tensions between William and his cousin Beatrice. It is rumored that the prince would not take a good liking to the longtime boyfriend, Dave Clark, of the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.
The photograph
Diana's favorite photographer, Mario Testino, who had taken the official engagement photos of William and Kate, was once again asked by the Cambridges to immortalize the baptism and the expected family portraits. Some pictures, approved by Kate and William, should be sent to the press in the coming days.
