Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born on May 6, 2019, and is the first child of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. The couple married on May 19, 2018, and baby Archie was born just less than a year later. Now details of baby Archie’s christening have emerged, and there are certain royal rules the ceremony must follow.

Each Royal Family member is baptised into the Church of England, which is a Protestant strain of Christianity.

Meghan was baptised shortly before her wedding to Prince Harry, and now their son will be welcomed into the faith.

The monarch holds the title of Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

Archie will be baptised at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, the same place his father was christened in 1984, and where his parents wed in May last year.

Here are the royal christening traditions baby Archie Harrison will be following on his big day.

Christening Gown

Royal babies wear the Honiton christening gown for their baptisms, a replica of the original which was commissioned by Queen Victoria for her firstborn daughter, Princess Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa in 1841.

The gown in question was designed after Queen Victoria’s wedding dress and features white silk with handmade lace overlay.

The original dress was worn by 62 royal babies across the 163 years it was used, with five monarchs being baptised in the gown.

George V, Edward VIII, George VI and the Queen all wore the white lace dress, as did Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry.

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The delicate dress had strict care instructions and had to be hand-washed with spring water after each ceremony, before being stored in a dark room.

The original Honiton gown was retired after Lady Louise Windsor’s baptism in 2004 and the Queen’s personal wardrobe advisor, Angela Kelly was asked to create a replica.

Ms Kelly worked closely with craftsmen in both Britain and Italy to get the dress as close as possible to the original.

Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis were all baptised in the new gown.

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Holy Water

Another tradition is that royals are baptised with holy water from the River Jordan, which flows through Jordan, Israel and Palestine.

The River Jordan is where Jesus was believed to have been baptised by John the Baptist.

Dia Madani, head of Jordan’s baptism site commission, told the BBC in 2015 around the time of Princess Charlotte’s christening: “We organise the process of bottling holy water from the River Jordan.

“We provide it to investors after cleaning it, sterilising it, and giving it the blessings of religious men. Each bottle has a label from the commission.”

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Baptismal Font

As well as the traditional gown, royal baptisms feature a large silver-gilt font, known as the Lily Font.

The font is part of the Royal Collection and is kept at the Jewel House at the Tower of London when not in use.

The font was again commissioned by Queen Victoria from silversmiths Edward Barnard and Sons in 1840 for Princess Victoria’s christening.

The font is made from silver gilt that gives the appearance of gold.

The design features three winged cherubs sit on the base of the font, sitting above the royal arms of Victoria, Prince Albert and the Princess Royal.

The cherubs are plucking lyres, above them, leaves reach up to support the bowl that is edged by cascading water lilies.

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