Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, will christen their baby son Archie on Saturday, 6th July 2019, at a private ceremony. Also, they will not disclose his godparents’ identities.
“Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor will be christened in a small private ceremony by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle on Saturday 6th July,” Buckingham Palace said in a brief notice.
“The godparents, in keeping with their wishes, will remain private.”
Britain’s boisterous press and the army of royal commentators who dissect every palace move have already condemned the widely-expected decision to keep the event out of the public eye.
Meghan, the former US television star turned Duchess of Sussex, has only made a handful of public appearances since giving birth to Archie, her son with Harry, in May.
The royal couple kept details of the birth private. They also avoided the kind of media scrutiny traditionally lavished on senior members of one of the world’s most famous families.
Those decisions drew added criticism after Buckingham Palace revealed that last month that the couple used £2.4 million ($3 million, 2.7 million euros) of public money to renovate their new home in Windsor.
Harry and Meghan “can’t have it both ways,” Penny Junor, a veteran royal watcher, wrote in The Sunday Times. Junor has penned a biography on Harry.
“Either they are totally private, pay for their own house and disappear out of view or play the game the way it is played.”
