A royal christening in Sweden

Prince Oscar will take centre stage on May 27th 2016 when he is christened at the Royal Chapel in the Royal Palace of Stockholm. Well, kind of centre stage because let's face it, Estelle will be taking a starring role too. The son of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel will be baptised on a Friday afternoon in the spring sunshine, giving us all a good chance to have another look at him and to see his family celebrate another happy event in a very special year for them.

Prince Oscar of Sweden with his mum, Crown Princess Victoria

Oscar Carl Olof, Duke of Skane was born on March 2nd 2016 meaning he'll be just short of three months old when he is christened with all the tradition and ceremony that usually accompanies royal baptisms in Sweden. He will wear the christening gown used since 1906 for royal baptisms and last seen on his cousin, Prince Nicolas, in October 2015.

Prince Nicolas of Sweden in the christening gown used by generations of royalty since the baptism, in 1906, of his great grandfather

He will be baptised at the font used by generations of Swedish royalty and created in the 17th century. The water for the christening will come from a spring in Oland - King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia started this royal tradition and their three children and three other grandchildren have all been baptised with this water.

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We don't know who the godparents will be yet but as Prince Carl Philip was sponsor to Estelle it's likely that Victoria's other sibling, Princess Madeleine, could be asked to do the honours this time round. Estelle had three royal godparents - King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark so we will probably see another regal sponsor on Oscar's list.

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And no doubt we will see lots of baby blue. Queen Silvia chose the shade for the christening of her first grandson, Nicolas, and for the Te Deum for Oscar and it's likely that at least some of the women in the royal party will follow her lead for this latest christening. 

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Finding a date for the christening hasn't been easy - there's another royal baby due this month and at the end of April there are large scale celebrations for the 70th birthday of King Carl XVI Gustaf. June sees the 40th wedding anniversary of the Swedish king and queen and that's before we get down to the general business of royal engagements, visits and trips.  In this packed royal year we have another highlight to look forward to - the christening of Prince Oscar on Mary 27th.