Private Christening For Edward & Sophie's Baby James
Written by Joanne Leyland
Friday, 18 April 2008
The
latest addition to the House of Windsor has been christened during a private
ceremony at Windsor Castle.
The Earl and Countess of Wessex’ second child and only son, James Alexander
Philip Theo – formally known as Viscount Severn – was christened in the chapel
at Windsor during a service attended by only close members of his family,
including his grandparents, the Queen and Prince Philip.
Four-month
old James became the first member of the Royal Family to wear a
christening robe commissioned by the Queen to replace the increasingly
delicate Honiton lace robes worn by generations of royal children since
it made its debut at the christening of Queen Victoria's daughter.
Although little information was offered ahead of the ceremony, royal babies are traditionally christened with water from the
River Jordan which is contained in the Lily Font. This was made in 1840
for the christening of Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, Princess
Victoria ('Vicky').
Highlighting
the family's desire to keep the event wholly private, just one official
image of the proud parents and their youngest child has now been
released marking the christening of the
Queen’s eighth grandchild. The portrait was taken by photographer John Swannell.
As
denoted by the fact their children do not bear the prestigious titles
of 'H.R.H', Edward and Sophie appear to have decreed that their
offspring will be essentially private
citizens.
Comment: Lady Louise Windsor's christening in 2004 was also considered a private event, which took place at Windsor and for which only one photo was released. This practice seems to be in keeping with the Wessex’s desire to rear their children as privately as possible. As reported by BBC News James' godparents were Denise Poulton, Jeanye Irwin, Alastair Bruce, Duncan Bullivant and Tom Hill. Louise was born with the eye disorder exotropia, which has since been corrected. Pictures of Louise are rare because her parents insist on her privacy.
Name: Elsie Marek
Comment: I think that biggest problem most people have is that this was a different photographer than Lord Litchfield. The new guy maybe wanted the pic this way.
Name: M-M
Comment: LittleMo Comment: M-M - lots of details about this christening have not been released. We don't know who the godparents are or who else attended the christening apart from the Queen and Prince Philip. So its quite possible that Lady Louise was there. More likely that she would only attend for a limited time as a 4 year old can get 'fidgety' during a long and serious ceremony. __________________
LittleMo - my comment was based on the fact that it was a small private Christening and not a large formal occasion , and it would have been nice if the photo released to the Press had included Louise if she was there , since that is their family unit .
BTW we do know who the godparents are , their names were released and are available on the internet . None of them is titled , they are family friends . Both Princess Anne and Prince Andrew attended . Charles and Camilla 'preferred not to interrupt their holiday at Birkhall ' according to the Press
Name: Carolyn
Comment: Hiding hadicaps? Rubbish! King GeorgeV1 suffered a lifetime of embarrassment with a stutter, yet had to speak publicly. Princess Alice of Greece (Philip's mother) was deaf and proud of her ability to lipread in 3 or languages. And if you are thinking of Prince John, in the days before anticonvulsant medication, Epileptics (like Haemophiliacs) did not live very long, and were generally sent into care, especially amongst the wealthy. Perhaps Edward and Sophie just prefer to be as private as possible?
Name: Monika
Comment: I agree. When Lady Louise was christened, they released a few photos and one included the grandparents. I wish they had done that this time.
Name: Tracey
Comment: From what I have heard, Lady Louise had a 'lazy eye' that was fixed by surgery, but I think that the reason we don't see more of the children of Edward and Sophie is that they wish the children to be brought up out of the glare of the media, they just want them to have as much as humanly possibe a 'normal' (if there is such a thing for royal grandchildren)upbringing, and that it is only on 'special' occasions that they come out for display. Personally, I think it is a good idea, no child, whoever it's parents are, should be put on show for the media and maybe if a few 'celeb' parents had taken this road we would see less problems with them as teens and young adults. But this is just my opinion.
Name: colleen
Comment: Yes although I dont know much about them as a family I have always thought it rather odd that you never seen their little girl also in a official portrait you would have thought the whole family would be photographed in other royal baptisms the other children in the family were there. If there was a handicap it is just like the royal family to hide it rather than face it.
Name: LittleMo
Comment: M-M - lots of details about this christening have not been released. We don't know who the godparents are or who else attended the christening apart from the Queen and Prince Philip. So its quite possible that Lady Louise was there. More likely that she would only attend for a limited time as a 4 year old can get 'fidgety' during a long and serious ceremony.
Name: Jean Sue Libkind
Comment: I would like to see a photo of HM and DoE with all of their grandchildren. It's important to capture that before the oldest are totally off on their own; it would already be difficult to capture both William and Harry on leave at the same time.
Name: byrdslover
Comment: What a lovely photo.
Name: M-M
Comment: But where is his sister , 4 year old Louise ? Usually Royals include siblings in the Christening of new babies , they are invited right up to the font in many cases to see what is going on and be part of it .
If Louise has a little eye problem , that is not her fault , she should not be hidden away IMO . The Dutch RF never excluded Princess Christina and she was born blind .
Name: udyusa
Comment: What a fabulous photo!! They all just look unbelievable. Not 'posed' per se, but just Happy! How nice to see for a pleasant change...
Name: exploora
Comment: Well it is a fact, Joanne, the handsome Viscount Severn is a Windsor male.
Name: Joanne
Comment: Exploora...LOL!
I wouldn't dream of saying he IS a Windsor male!
Joanne
Name: exploora
Comment: Beautiful photo, and I won't say a word about where Viscount Severn's hand appears to be.
Name: Joanne
Comment: I agree, Monika. I always like John Swannell's work. He took the black and white studio portrait of Diana, William and Harry, as used on the late princess's Christmas cards in approx. 1994. I'm sure you remember the picture/s I mean - one shows them laughing together?
Re. baby James: I wish I was as alert as that on a Saturday (or a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday........ :laugh
Joanne
Name: Monika
Comment: What a lovely photo...and the baby is very alert.
