Royal christening: mother's choice

So far, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have given every indication that the christening of Prince George will be an informal affair.  Swathes of the senior royals have been chopped from the guest list and, if newspaper reports are to be believed, this little king to be will be the only monarch in waiting with no crowned head among his godparents.  Which begs the question of what ma and pa will be wearing when they turn up at St James' Palace tomorrow with baby George in his replica christening gown.  To hat or not to hat?  That is the question facing Kate.

The last time we saw Kate in a hat was at her final official public appearance before the birth of Prince George - the Trooping of the Colour in London in June 2013

 

Because while William and Charles were both carried into their christenings by mothers in rather large and quite strange hats, earlier kings to be had bare headed parents on their baptism day.  Diana, Princess of Wales chose a semi discreet pink hat for the christening of her first born child on August 4th 1982 at Buckingham Palace.  But then she knew she wouldn't be the only one with headwear - the Queen Mother was rarely seen without her signature hat with upturned brim and veil.  Like the Queen, the Queen Mother chose blue for the baptism of the first born boy who secured their dynasty into the 21st century.

 

 

A princess in pink with two queens in blue.  The official portrait of four generations of the House of Windsor taken on William's christening day, August 4th 1982, at Buckingham Palace

 

The Queen's hat for her next but one successor was far more discreet than her crowning glory for the christening of her own heir, Charles, in December 1948.  The then princess Elizabeth wore a red coast with a matching bow attached to her black hat.  But then she had given birth only a month before and the outfit did help draw some attention away from the exhaustion quite clearly still etched on her face.  By the time she had Princess Anne christened, she was in the swing of motherhood and the hat was far more subtle.

 

 

King George VI can't hide his concern for his daughter, Princess Elizabeth, at the christening of her first son, Charles, in December 1948

 

The Queen Mother chose an on trend cloche hat with minor decoration for the christening of her first born child, Princess Elizabeth, in 1926 but then she was organizing a baptism for a mere grandchild of a monarch, not a baby born to rule.  It would be another decade before it became clear to the princess' parents that the little girl in their nursery was destined to be queen.

 

 

King George V and Queen Mary at the christening of Princess Elizabeth of York.  No one that day thought they were attending the baptism of a future queen

 

But just one generation further back and the hats disappear.  The christening photographs of the boy who would become Edward VIII show his mother, Mary, in a typical late 19th century dress with high neck, shaped waist and bustled skirt but no hat.  No headwear of any type at all.  The other women are all bare headed as well apart from Queen Victoria but then her little lace cap seems to have been welded to her head at some point in the 1860s and only removed for her to wear her favourite little coronet.

 

 

Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge shows her concern for her daughter, May, who had given birth to her son, the future Edward VIII, just 23 days before his christening.  Buying a hat was the last thing on her mind

 

So if Kate does decide to go without a hat, in keeping with the less formal christening she is said to want for her son, then really she's only going back to the way things used to be done.  And in recent times, some royal christenings have seen the hats dispensed with.  The Countess of Wessex was hat-less for the baptisms of both Lady Louise and Viscount Severn while Autumn Phillips was bare headed at the christening of the Queen's first great grandchild, Savannah.  That's the thing about traditions, they keep changing.  And on October 23rd, we get to see which version Kate is backing.