Prince George will be christened in the chapel where his grandmother Princess Diana’s body lay before her funeral.
Kensington Palace confirmed details about the ceremony in a statement overnight.
The christening service will take place at 3pm next Wednesday, October 23, in The Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace.
It will go for 45 minutes and be conducted by The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby.
No further details about godparents, the guest list or the order of service are expected to be given out until the day.
It has been reported that many senior royals, including Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, aren’t invited to the christening because William and Kate want it to be an “intimate, family affair”.
This is reflected in the choice of the smaller Chapel Royal over the chapel at Buckingham Palace where most royal christenings are conducted.
William and Kate have special links to the Chapel Royal. It was where the body of William’s mother Diana lay before her funeral in 1997 so her family could pay their respects, and more recently where Kate was formally confirmed into the Church of England before her marriage to William in April 2011.
The last royal baby to be christened in the chapel was Princess Beatrice in December 1988.
Hot favourites to be chosen for the coveted role of godparents — of which there will be six — include Kate’s sister Pippa Middleton and brother James Middleton as well as William’s brother Prince Harry, best friend Thomas Van Straubenzee, former private secretary Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton and ex-nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke.
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