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Baby Archie to be christened this weekend in private ceremony

Author
Max Foster, CNN ,
Publish Date
Mon, 1 Jul 2019, 12:31PM
Archie will be christened two months after his birth. (Photo / AP)
Archie will be christened two months after his birth. (Photo / AP)

Baby Archie to be christened this weekend in private ceremony

Author
Max Foster, CNN ,
Publish Date
Mon, 1 Jul 2019, 12:31PM

The infant son of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - will be christened Saturday, July 6, a royal source told CNN on Sunday.

The christening of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor will be a small, private event with fewer than 25 friends and family members in attendance, the source said.

It will be held at a private chapel in Windsor Castle, and the Daily Telegraph reports that it will be an intimate affair.

While the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had allowed photographers to take pictures of those arriving before the ceremony, Harry and Meghan reportedly want only a very small gathering.

A royal source told the newspaper that the Sussexes acknowledge their son will face elements of being in the public eye, they consider Archie to be a "private citizen" and as he is not in a direct line of succession intend to shield him. 

The Cambridges have let photographers capture pictures of them and their children, family members and guests arriving before holding private services. Photo / Getty Images

The Cambridges have let photographers capture pictures of them and their children, family members and guests arriving before holding private services. Photo / Getty Images

Buckingham Palace is expected to release photographs after the event, and the couple will likely post photos on their popular Instagram account. The ceremony is due to take place exactly two months after Archie was born on May 6.

Harry was christened at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle in 1984, and he and Meghan wed there in May 2018.

The chapel was where Prince Andrew's daughter Princess Eugenie wed Jack Brooksbank in October 2018, and where Lady Gabriella Windsor married financier Thomas Kingston in May 2019.

The Sunday Times reported earlier this month that Archie will wear a replica of the historic royal christening gown, which was commissioned by Queen Victoria and first used in 1841 for the baptism of her eldest daughter, Princess Victoria.

The original was made from Spitalfields silk and Honiton lace. It was worn by 62 royal babies, including Queen Elizabeth at her christening in 1926, Prince Harry and Prince William.

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