The queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will not attend Prince Louis of Cambridge’s christening, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
The decision has not been made on health grounds and it is understood to have been mutually agreed by the Queen and the Cambridges some time ago.
Prince Louis’s will have six godparents including Prince William’s close friend Guy Pelly. They are: Nicholas van Cutsem; Guy Pelly; Harry Aubrey-Fletcher; The Lady Laura Meade; Mrs Robert Carter; and Miss Lucy Middleton.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are preparing to christen their third child Prince Louis, in a family service later.
The prince, who is 11 weeks old, will be baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury in front of friends and close members of the royal family in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace.
This differs from the location of his sister Charlotte’s christening which took place in the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Sandringham.
Prince George, four, and three-year-old Princess Charlotte will be there for their younger brother’s big day and it will be the first time Kate and William will have been seen with all their children together.
Grandfather the Prince of Wales and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall will be present, along with Louis’ maternal grandparents Carole and Michael Middleton.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will also be guests, as will Kate’s brother James Middleton, and Kate’s pregnant sister Pippa with husband James Matthews – the brother of former Made in Chelsea star Spencer Matthews.
The Queen has been spending time with the duke in Norfolk, and will be travelling back to London on Monday.
The monarch missed a service at St Paul’s Cathedral on June 28 because she was feeling “under the weather”.
But she was in Edinburgh last week carrying out engagements for the annual Holyrood week.
She had surgery on her eye in May to remove a cataract.
Philip had a successful hip replacement operation in April, but was well enough to attend Harry and Meghan’s wedding in May.
The monarch and Philip attended the christening of Louis’ older siblings George at the Chapel Royal in 2013 and Charlotte in the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Sandringham, Norfolk in 2015.
As head of the Church of England, the Queen is a committed Christian and has a deep religious faith.
She also went to the christenings of her other great-grandchildren Savannah Phillips and Mia Tindall, but neither she nor the duke are thought to have gone to Isla Phillips’s in 2012.
Source: News Agencies
