Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was christened on Saturday, July 6 at Windsor Castle, where his parents were married last year. There were reportedly 25 people there, including his godparents, whoever they are, his grandmother, Doria Ragland, and Prince Charles and Camilla, Prince William and Catherine, and Princess Diana’s sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes. Lady Jane was the one who gave the reading at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding and it was reported shortly after Archie’s birth that Lady Jane was one of the first to meet him.
Harry has clearly stayed close to his Spencer relatives through the years. About a month after he and Meghan were married, they both attended the wedding of his cousin, Celia, Lady Sarah’s daughter. Including Lady Sarah and Lady Jane for Archie’s baptism is being seen by many as a sign that this is Harry and Meghan’s way of keeping Diana involved in Archie’s life. For all the speculation about Archie’s godparents, it’s surprising then that no Spencers have been mentioned as possible candidates. Celia McCorquodale seems like an excellent choice. (Read as a whisper...) No Spencers have appeared in any of the officially released christening portraits for the heirs of House Cambridge. And William did not attend Celia’s wedding.
William and Kate arrived just before 11 on Saturday and left just before noon, staying exactly an hour. Most people were there longer. Not that it means anything but since the gossip for the better part of a year has been about Will and Harry’s relationship and whether or not it’s been strained, that doesn’t seem like an indication that the situation has thawed. And if we’re playing Photo Assumption, our favourite game of baseless conclusions, on this portrait… what’s Will’s face saying to you?
Were you surprised by Kate’s outfit? I did not expect her to come through in pink and red. I thought she’d go with grey or blue, and something boring. This is not boring at all (by her standards). She’s wearing one of those headbands she’s been favouring since last year, a modernisation of the headwear of royal women in the Tudor times. The “power headband”, as they’re calling it, is the hair accessory trend of the year. Is this the first time Kate’s been ahead of the curve instead of behind it?
No one in this portrait, however, looks better than Doria Ragland. I LOVE this look. I love the headpiece that also nods to a headwrap that in itself nods to Black women’s style. I love the colour on her. I love her expression – so serene and so regal, as royal as the rest of them.
As for the second shot in the carousel, the black and white one featuring the three members of House Sussex.
This, of course, is signature Meghan Markle: editorial and decidedly atypical by what we’re used to seeing from the British royal family in its intimacy. This is a young couple in love, with each other and with their child. Archie’s eyes are closed, as if he’s receiving all the affection and care and security he needs from his parents; Meghan’s eyes are on Harry who’s leaning in, his hand on her arm, marveling at his son and enclosing both of them in his protection. Pictures like these, from them, are meant to convey a message. Everything in this shot comes inward and circles to the centre. The message here is that the Sussexes are their own unit. Unit, unity, united.
