Prince Louis to be christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury next month
Prince Louis will be christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury next month, Kensington Palace has announced.
It will take place at The Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, London on Monday July 9 and the Most Reverend Justin Welby will preside over the service.
The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a son at 11.01am on April 23 weighing 8lbs 7oz, inside the £5,900-a-stay The Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital in London.
By welcoming a baby prince, William and Kate are following the birth pattern of the Queen and Philip's children - a son, a daughter and then another son.
But the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made history for gender equality, with Princess Charlotte remaining fourth-in-line to the throne and her younger brother slipping into fifth ahead of Prince Harry.
Historically, Prince Louis would have leapfrogged his sister simply because he was born male.
Prince George - third-in-line - was also christened at the Chapel Royal, but Charlotte was baptised at the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Sandringham.
Royal Christenings
After the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge take their newborn home, they got to work planning the christening.
The ceremony, as tradition dictates, will be conducted by The Archbishop of Canterbury.
Royal christenings are not confined to one traditional location and in years gone by the service has been held at a number of locations linked to the monarchy.
While today's announcement revealed a return to The Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, here is a look at the details of previous christenings.
The Queen
The Queen was christened Elizabeth Alexandra Mary on May 29, 1926 by The Archbishop of York Cosmo Gordon Lang in The Chapel, Buckingham Palace.
Her godparents:
Paternal grandparents King George V and Queen Mary
Maternal grandfather the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Aunts Mary, Princess Royal, and Lady Elphinsone
Great-great-uncle Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught
Queen Elizabeth II profile
The Prince Of Wales
The Prince of Wales was christened Charles Philip Arthur George on December 15, 1948 by The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Geoffrey Fisher in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace.
His godparents:
Grandfather King George VI
Great-grandmother Queen Mary
Aunt Princess Margaret
Paternal great-grandmother Victoria
Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven
Great-uncle the Honourable David Bowes-Lyon
Lady Brabourne, daughter of the Earl of Mountbatten of Burma
Great-uncles King Haakon of Norway and Prince George of Greece
Royal christenings | What can we expect from Prince Louis' big day?
The Duke of Cambridge
The Duke of Cambridge was christened William Arthur Philip Louis on August 4, 1982 by The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Robert Runcie in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace.
His godparents:
King Constantine II of the Hellenes
Lord Romsey
Sir Laurens van der Post
Princess Alexandra
The Honourable Mrs Angus Ogilvy The Duchess of Westminster
Lady Susan Hussey, Lady in Waiting to The Queen
Prince Louis' godparents | Who are William and Kate likely to pick?
Prince Harry
Prince Harry was christened Henry Charles Albert David on December 21, 1984 by The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Robert Runcie in St George's Chapel in Windsor.
His godparents:
Uncle The Duke of York
Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones
Lady Vestey
Carolyn Bartholomew, friend of Princess Diana
Bryan Organ, artist who painted Prince Charles
Gerald Ward, late close friend of Prince Charles
Prince George
Prince George was christened George Alexander Louis on October 23, 2013 by The Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend Justin Welby at The Chapel Royal in St James' Palace.
The Telegraph's Chief Reporter Gordon Rayner wrote about his godparents at the time.
Oliver Baker
Oli Bake met the Duke and Duchess at St Andrews University, where he became one of a small circle of friends known as “Sallies boys” after the St Salvator’s halls of residence where they lived.
He was one of two friends who shared a house with the Duke and Duchess during their final two years at university.
When Mr Baker married Mel Nicholson at St Andrews in 2010, the Duke and Duchess were among the guests.
Emilia Jardine-Paterson
Emila Jardine-Paterson, nee Emilia d-Erlanger, is one of the Duchess’s closest friends from her school days at Marlborough College.
In 2007, when the Duke and Duchess temporarily split up, Mrs Jardine-Paterson was one of a handful of friends who consoled the Duchess during a holiday at her uncle Gary Goldsmith’s villa in Ibiza.
She also attended St Andrews University, where she became friends with the Duke.
She runs her own interior design business called d’Erlanger and Sloan.
Her husband David is the brother of JJ Jardine-Paterson, an ex-boyfriend of Pippa Middleton.
Earl Grosvenor
Earl Grosvenor, known as Hugh to friends, is both the youngest and the wealthiest of the godparents.
He is the son and heir of the Duke of Westminster, one of the ten wealthiest men in the country with a property fortune of £7.35 billion.
A former student at Newcastle University, he threw a spectacular 21st birthday party at the family seat, Eaton Hall, near Chester, where comedian Michael McIntyre and the hip hop band Rizzle Kicks provided the entertainment and Prince Harry was among the guests.
His sister Lady Tamara is married to Edward van Cutsem, brother of fellow godparent William van Cutsem, and his mother, the Duchess of Westminster, is Prince William’s godmother.
Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton
One of the most widely-predicted names on the list, Mr Lowther-Pinkerton is a former SAS Major who worked as the Duke’s private secretary from 2005 until last month, and still works one day a week as the Duke and Duchess’s principal private secretary.
A former equerry to the Queen Mother, he has been a loyal and trusted mentor to the Duke for most of his adult life.
He served in the first Gulf War in 1991 as special forces liaison officer with the US military, and also saw service in Bosnia.
His son William was a pageboy at the royal wedding in 2011.
Line of succession to the British throne
Julia Samuel
A close friend of Diana, Princess of Wales, Julia Samuel is founder patron and trustee of Child Bereavement UK (formerly the Child Bereavement Trust) and works as a maternity and paediatric counsellor at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, where Prince George was born.
A member of the Guinness family, her sister Sabrina is a former girlfriend of the Prince of Wales.
The mother-of-four became friends with the Princess after being seated next to her at a dinner, and often went with her to concerts and sporting events.
The Princess became godmother to her son Benjamin, now 23. She is married to businessman Michael Samuel.
Zara Tindall
The Duke of Cambridge’s cousin, Zara Tindall, is the closest to him in age of his six cousins, and shares his love of riding.
She is an Olympic silver medallist in team eventing at London 2012 and a former BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
She married former England rugby international Mike Tindall in Edinburgh three months after the Duke and Duchess were married.
William van Cutsem
One of the Duke of Cambridge’s oldest friends, William van Cutsem, is the son of the late Hugh van Cutsem, who became the Prince of Wales’s closest friend during their time at Cambridge University.
He is one of four brothers, all of whom are friends of the Duke and Duchess, but as the youngest he is the closest in age to the Duke and as boys they played together at Anmer Hall on the Queen’s Sandringham estate, where the van Cutsems once lived, and which has now been given to the Duke and Duchess as their own country home.
William’s brother Edward is a godson of the Prince of Wales and was a pageboy at the royal wedding in 1981.
In September 2013 the Duke was among the mourners at Hugh van Cutsem’s funeral in Essex.
Princess Charlotte
Princess Charlotte was christened Charlotte Elizabeth Diana on July 5, 2015 by The Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend Justin Welby at the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Sandringham.
The Telegraph's Chief Reporter Gordon Rayner wrote about his godparents at the time.
The Hon Laura Fellowes
At a christening already heavy with memories of Diana, Princess of Wales, the choice of Laura Fellowes confirmed predictions that the Duke would want a member of his mother's family to be a godparents.
Ms Fellowes is the Duke's first cousin, as she is the daughter of Princess Diana's sister Lady Jane Fellowes. Her husband Nick Pettman, who works in the City, will also be at the christening, as will the spouses of all the godparents.
Princess Charlotte is being christened in the church if St Mary Magdalene in Sandringham, Norfolk, where Princess Diana was also christened. Diana is one of Charlotte's middle names.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were guests at Ms Fellowes' wedding in Snettisham, Norfolk, in 2009, and with just a year between their ages, the Duke and Ms Fellowes often played together as children.
Her father, Lord Fellowes, was the Queen's Private Secretary and his father was the Queen's land agent at Sandringham.
Ms Fellowes, who writes novels under the pen-name Mave Fellowes, lives with her husband and two sons in west Norfolk, not far from the Duke and Duchess's home at Anmer Hall.
Adam Middleton
While all the pre-christening attention around the Middleton family was on whether the Duchess's siblings Pippa and James would be chosen as godparents, few people were talking about the Duchess's cousin Adam Middleton.
The 33-year-old is the son of Michael Middleton's brother Richard, and works for the Mayfair-based firm Manchester Square Partners, which advises business leaders on how to "navigate ambiguity and make good decisions".
Last year, when he married interior designer Rebecca Poynton at the Dorchester Hotel in London, the guests included the Duchess of Cambridge, her parents and James and Pippa Middleton. He has a first-class degree in economics and finance from Loughborough University.
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Thomas van Straubenzee
One of the Duke of Cambridge's oldest school friends, Thomas van Straubenzee was a popular 2/1 bet to make the list of godparents.
A firm fixture on the Duke and Duchess's social scene, he has known the Duke since they attended Ludgrove prep school together and is also a close friend of Prince Harry.
The Duke's connection to the van Straubenzee family pre-dates his school days; his mother Diana, Princess of Wales was a close friend of the family and nannied Thomas's cousin before she married the Prince of Wales.
Both of the princes were guests at Mr van Straubenzee's wedding two years ago to Lady Melissa Percy, the youngest daughter of the Duke of Northumberland.
Their reception was held in the bride's ancestral home, Alnwick Castle.
When the Duke of Cambridge visited New Zealand during his gap year, it was with Mr van Straubenzee that he travelled.
And when the Duke married the Duchess, Mr van Straubenzee was one of two friends invited to make a speech after the best man, Prince Harry.
His brother Henry died aged 18 in 2002 following a car crash, and Princes William and Harry showed their loyalty and friendship by becoming patron of a charity set up in his name.
Thomas van Straubenzee was on the phone to Prince Harry when he was mugged in 2011.
The Prince rushed to his side with his police bodyguard. He is an estate agent who recently set up his own agency, VanHan.
James Meade
Another permanent fixture in the Duke of Cambridge's social circle, James Meade was at Eton with the Duke and has been one of his closest friends ever since.
He and Thomas van Straubenzee were the only two friends invited to make speeches at the Duke and Duchess's wedding reception in 2011.
He and his wife Lady Laura Marsham, whom he married in 2013, are also part of the Duke and Duchess's Norfolk set, as Lady Laura's family seat is at Gayton Hall in Norfolk.
James, whose father Richard is a gold medal-winning Olympic equestrian, is also a friend of Prince Harry, who, with Prince William, attended his wedding at Gayton Hall.
Nicknamed "badger" - his fighting name at the Boodles Boxing Ball in 2008 - it was at his brother Harry's wedding in 2010 that the Duke and Duchess were last seen before they announced their engagement.
Sophie Carter
Sophie Carter, a long-term friend of the Duchess of Cambridge, has been rewarded for her loyalty and discretion over the years.
An unfamiliar name to all but the most die-hard royal watchers, she is a virtual ever-present at parties and social gatherings organised by the Duchess, including her birthday parties.
