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Why Princess Lilibet's christening was so different from brother Prince Archie's

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's daughter was baptised in March 2023

Harry and Meghan with Archie and baby Lilibet
Danielle Stacey
Online Royal CorrespondentLondon
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March marks a whole year since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's daughter Princess Lilibet was christened.

Prince Harry and Meghan confirmed their youngest child had been baptised during a private service at the Sussexes' Montecito home on 3 March 2023 by John H. Taylor, the Bishop of Los Angeles.

It also marked the first time Lilibet was publicly referred to as Princess. She and her big brother Archie, four, became princess and prince respectively, when their grandfather King Charles acceded to the throne.

It was confirmed at the title that the children's royal titles will be used in formal settings, but not in everyday conversational use by the couple.

No images have ever been shared publicly from Lilibet's special day, in contrast to Archie's christening in Windsor in 2019.

Archie was baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury in a ceremony at the private chapel at Windsor Castle on 6 July 2019.

The three-month-old tot was dressed in the traditional royal christening gown – a replica of the original Honiton lace gown made for Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Victoria, in 1841.

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But Lilibet is unlikely to have worn the royal christening gown at her baptism. Typically royal babies are christened at a very young age, usually under six months old.

The Prince and Princess of Wales christened Prince George at three months old, Princess Charlotte at two months and Prince Louis at three months of age. Archie was also only three months old at his christening. 

Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge holds Britain's Prince Louis of Cambridge on their arrival for his christening service wearing Alexander McQueen dress© Getty
Prince Louis wearing the royal christening gown

It's unlikely that the replica gown would have been flown over to the US for Lilibet to wear, and given she was 21 months at the time, she's likely to have outgrown it. 

While the late Queen did not attend Archie's christening, Charles, Camilla, William and Kate were among the guests alongside William and Harry's aunts, Lady Jane Fellowes and Lady Sarah McCorquodale - the sisters of Prince Harry's mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

It was reported that Harry and Meghan had extended an invitation to Lilibet's christening to members of the royal family, but they were unable to attend – no doubt due to the distance and their busy royal schedules.

Princess Lilibet smiling on her first birthday© Misan Harriman
Lilibet on her 1st birthday

However, the Duke's aunts, Lady Jane and Lady Sarah flew over to California for the ceremony.

In a break from royal tradition, Harry and Meghan did not publicly reveal the names of Archie's godparents, however four of the individuals were later reported to be Harry's close friends, Charlie van Straubenzee and the 7th Duke of Westminster, family friend Mark Dyer and the Duke's former nanny, Tiggy Pettifer.

Similarly, Lilibet's godparents are unknown but prior to her baptism, Hollywood mogul Tyler Perry revealed he had been asked to be the tot's godfather in Harry and Meghan's Netflix docuseries, released in December 2022.

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