Six Months After His Baptism, Prince Archie's Godparents Have Finally Been Revealed

From Country Living

Just like everything else in their family life, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry chose to keep the names of their son Archie's godparents under wraps. "The godparents, in keeping with their wishes, will remain private," a statement from Buckingham Palace reads.

More than six months after the baptism, the Sunday Times reports that the couple named named Prince Harry's childhood nanny Tiggy Pettifer (formerly Legge-Bourke) as Archie's godmother, and Harry's close friend and mentor, Mark Dyer as godfather. While their picks are less star-studded than many originally thought (Serena Williams was in the running, FYI), it's clear that the Sussexes were loyal to those that supported Harry after his mother's death in 1997. Or it's possible that Prince Harry is merely returning a favor: Harry was selected as the godfather to Dyer's son Jasper and Pettifer's son Tom.

Right after the baptism, the Sunday Times confirmed that one of Prince Harry's oldest friends Charlie van Straubenzee was also chosen as Archie's godfather. Since royals tend to have several godparents — for example, Prince Louis has six — there's still a few names left to be revealed.

But don't expect Prince William and Kate Middleton to be on that list. The Sussexes likely picked other friends and extended relatives for the role instead if they chose to follow recent precedent.

And the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge completely understand. They selected members of their inner social circle and cousins for all three of their children's godparents. That's right, Prince Harry is not a godfather to Prince George, Princess Charlotte, or Prince Louis. The reasoning goes that since he's already an uncle, he clearly already plays a large part in each of their lives. Picking friends instead gives the child additional mentors outside of the immediate family — usually five to eight of them in fact, based on past history. (When you're in the public eye as a member of the royal family, you can probably use all of the support you can get!)

For example, Prince Louis had six godparents at his christening in St. James's Palace in July last year. They included:

• Nicholas van Cutsem — Prince William's close friend

• Guy Pelly — Prince William's close friend

• Harry Aubrey-Fletcher — Prince William's close friend

• Lady Laura Meade — Prince William's close friend

• Hannah Carter — Kate Middleton's close friend

• Lucy Middleton — Kate Middleton’s cousin

Previous generations of royals also skipped over siblings for godparents. In fact, Prince Charles and Prince William all have esteemed society members and dignitaries (both British and foreign) as their godparents, in part because they're both expected to ascend to the throne.

Prince Harry does have one uncle as a godparent though — Prince Andrew, his father's younger brother. The other six chosen for the post included Diana's friend Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones; neighbors Lord Vestey and Celia Vestey; Charles's friend Gerald Ward; Diana's former flatmate Carolyn Bartholomew; and painter Bryan Organ.

Princess Anne reportedly felt snubbed by her omission, People claimed at the time, but looking back at British royal family history, it's actually a rare occasion an aunt or uncle actually makes the cut.

When Prince William and Kate Middleton had children of their own, they also honored longtime friends by asking them to step into the role. In addition to Prince Harry, Kate's siblings James and Pippa Middleton also did not serve as godparents. They did, however, attend the christenings.

So, it's safe to assume that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle followed suit. As for Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, they're probably just thrilled to call themselves Uncle Will and Aunt Kate.

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