Prince William, Duke of Cambridge arrives, holding his son Prince George, at Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, ahead of the christening of the three month-old Prince George of Cambridge by the Archbishop of Canterbury on October 23, 2013 in London.
Prince George of Cambridge, who at only three months old is already third in line for the throne, will be christened Wednesday by the archbishop of Canterbury in an intimate service that will feature seven godparents.
Breaking with tradition, William and Kate chose close friends from school and university to serve as godparents, along with close family friends. The future monarch’s godparents will be Emilia Jardine-Paterson, a school friend of Kate’s; William van Cutsem, a childhood friend of Prince William; Oliver Baker, who went to St. Andrews University with the couple; Julia Samuel, a close friend of William’s late mother Princess Diana; Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, Will and Kate’s former private secretary; Earl Grosvenor, the son of the Duke of Westminster; and Prince William’s cousin Zara Tindall.
According to The Guardian, William and Kate further broke with tradition by choosing to have the christening in the Chapel Royal at St. James Palace, where Princess Diana’s coffin rested before her funeral service and where Kate was later privately confirmed into the Church of England. More recently, future monarchs have been christened in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace. Among Prince George’s christening gifts: a wildflower meadow in Transylvania from Count Tibor Kalnoky, a friend of George’s grandfather Prince Charles.