Wednesday, 29 May 2024

Baby Archie christening: The £11,000 item Meghan and Harry will bring to christening

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s son Archie Harrison will be christened at Queen Elizabeth II’s private Windsor chapel this weekend. While it was previously thought the ceremony would be held at St George’s Chapel, where The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were married, the service will, in fact, take place within the inner sanctum of Windsor Castle, away from the public gaze. This is the £11,000 item  Archie’s parents will bring with him to his big day.

Royal christenings are lavish affairs and must stick to a string of traditions.

While Meghan and Harry have often veered away from royal custom, it is believed baby Archie will be baptised in the same manner as his royal predecessors, including his father.

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William’s three royal tots were all baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury and it is believed baby Archie will follow suit.

What is the £11,000 item they will bring to Archie’s christening?

The £11,000 Lily Font is a gold christening bowl that was commissioned by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

The font is usually kept at the Tower of London but is transported to churched for British royal christenings.

The Lily Font will be taken to Windsor especially for Archie this weekend.

All the children and grandchildren of Queen Elizabeth II have been baptised in the Lily Font, except for Princess Eugenie, whose ceremony in 1990 was the first public baptism for a member of the British Royal Family.

Royal babies are usually christened with water brought from the River Jordan where Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist.

The water is traditionally poured from a silver ewer made for the christening of the future King George III in 1735.

Baby Archie is also expected to wear a replica of the Honiton lace royal christening gown first worn by Queen Victoria’s great-grandchild.

The lace was worn by 63 royal babies at their christenings until it was deemed too fragile for continued use and a replica was made.

According to royal sources baby Archie’s christening will be a very private affair with no more than 25 guests.

The Queen will not attend her great-grandson’s big day due to a prior royal engagement.

While royal fans were hoping to catch a glimpse of little Archie as he arrived at the church on Saturday, the exclusive Windsor castle location, is not accessible to the public.

Instead, royal watchers will have to weight for photographs which will be issued to the press after the ceremony.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have carefully curated every image of Archie that has been released to the public so far.

From Instagram snaps to staged photographs, their decision to shelter Archie from the public has ruffled some feathers.

Last week the royal charter was released to the public and revealed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent £2.4million worth of public money on doing up there Frogmore Cottage home.

Royal author Penny Juror slammed the couple’s decision to keep the ceremony private calling it a “mistake” after they came under fire for spending the £2.4 million saying they ”can’t have it both ways.”

She told The Times: “They can’t have it both ways. Either they are totally private, pay for their own house and disappear out of view or play the game the way it is played.

“Seeing Archie and his godparents arriving at the christening is what people are interested in.”

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