Royal christening: the guests

Just twenty two people are on the guest list for the christening of Prince George of Cambridge which means that by the time we've added the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Archbishop of Canterbury, just over two dozen people will gather round the font for the baptism of the future king.  It's the intimate gathering that William and Kate are reported to want and will mark this out as a very different royal christening, not only from what's gone before in the British royal family but also in the way that the next generation of European royals have baptized their children.

 

And baby makes three.  William and Kate might have had half the world at their wedding but their son's christening will be shared by just a handful of people

 

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will be attending as will Charles, Camilla and Harry and Kate's parents and siblings.  But there's no place for the rest of the royal family, bar godmother Zara Tindall, and the other guests are George's godparents and their spouses.  No one else gets a pew and we might not even see the photos until the following day.  After the service, Charles will host a tea party at Clarence House and the guests will be served a slice of the christening cake which is where tradition kicks back in again as William and Kate have saved a tier of their wedding cake for the occasion.  Perhaps when they opened it up again they realized how small it was and started slashing the guest list accordingly.