LONDON • Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, have held a private christening for their son Archie by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Born on May 6, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was baptised yesterday in front of close family and friends in the private chapel at Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth II’s residence west of London, the BBC reported. The royal family released two photos of the event on social media.
Family members who attended the christening included Prince Harry’s elder brother Prince William, and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge. Prince Harry’s father Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, and Meghan’s mother, Ms Doria Ragland, were also at the ceremony.
Scores of royal fans and tourists lined a main road in Windsor town outside the castle ahead of the ceremony, some holding British or US flags and banners with messages congratulating the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported.
“The godparents, in keeping with their wishes, will remain private,” Buckingham Palace said.
Archie wore a replica of a 19th-century lace and satin gown made for the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, which had been used by generations of royal children, according to British media.
The replica gown, made by the queen’s dressmaker Angela Kelly in 2004 when the original became too fragile to wear, was also worn by Prince William and Kate’s children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – at their christenings.