Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have invited well-wishers to see Princess Charlotte outside St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham on day of her baptism, this Sunday , July 5.
Members of the public have been invited to share in Princess Charlotte’schristening this Sunday by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The royal couple have asked for the paddock outside St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham, to be opened to the public so they can see the baby before and after her baptism.
The church itself will be open to invited guests only, but thousands of people are expected to turn out for a rare opportunity to see the fourth in line to the throne.
Mario Testino, who will take Princess Charlotte’s christening photos on Sunday.
It will be the first time in living memory that the christening of such a senior member of the Royal family has involved the public in any way.
When Prince George was christened two years ago, the ceremony was held in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace, meaning there was no access to the public at all.
The same was true of Prince William, the Prince of Wales and the Queen, who were all christened at Buckingham Palace, and Prince Harry, who was baptised at Windsor Castle.
But for Princess Charlotte’s christening, Kensington Palace said that: “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be pleased to welcome well-wishers into the paddock outside the church.
“The Duke and Duchess are hugely grateful for the warm wishes they have received since Princess Charlotte’s birth – many of them from local people in Norfolk – and are delighted the paddock can be opened on the day of the christening.”
It will be the first time all four of the Cambridge family have been seen together in public.
The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince George, Michael and Carole Middleton and other guests, including godparents, will be at the service, though Prince Harry will miss out because he is in Africa.
The baptism will be carried out by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, supported by the Rev Canon Jonathan Riviere, Rector of the Sandringham group of parishes.
Police in Norfolk are preparing for several thousand members of the public to turn out. They will stand in a field between the church and Sandringham house, in the same position that the public stand when the Royal family celebrate Christmas every year at the same church.
Princess Eugenie became the first member of the Royal family to have an entirely public christening when she was baptised during a normal Sunday morning service at St Mary Magdalene in 1990.
The last great-granddaughter of a serving sovereign to be born in direct succession on the male line – Princess Mary – was also baptised in the same church 118 years ago in 1897.
source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
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