Princess Charlotte and Princess Eugenie are the only royals to share special…
Princess Charlotte and her paternal aunt, Princess Eugenie, share a very special bond because they are two of the living members of the Royal Family that have both been christened in the same location.
The special setting in question is St Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. Royal christenings have been enormous events and a cause for celebration where the members of the Royal Family come together to celebrate the joyous occasion.
The beautiful church on the Sandringham Estate is usually where the royals usually enjoy their Christmas Day service and hold their much-anticipated walkabout on their way back to the estate after church service. Princess Eugenie’s christening, which was held in December 1990, went down in the royal history books for many reasons – not only was she the first royal for several years to be christened at St Mary Magdalene Church, but her christening was the first to be held publicly.
The Prince and Princess of Wales’ daughter, Princess Charlotte, later followed suit on July 5, 2015. Her christening was attended by many members of her family, including the late Queen, King Charles and The Queen Consort. Prince George also managed to attract a great deal of attention on the day as images showed he stood on his toes to get a better look at his sister and chatted with his great-grandmother.
Charlotte’s brothers, George and Louis, however, were both christened at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace. While that was one major difference, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis all wore the replica of the historic Honiton Lace christening gown which was recreated by the Queen’s dresser, Angela Kelly.
The original gown had been commissioned by Queen Victoria for her first child, Princess Victoria the Princess Royal. It was worn by 62 royal babies across 163 years and Prince Edward’s daughter, Lady Louise Windsor, was the last to wear it at her christening in 2004 before it was retired into conservation.
After this event, the late Queen decided the time had come to enter the delicate artefact into conservation and have a replica made for future christenings.
Angela Kelly, one of the late Queen’s closest personal aides, wanted to ensure the material used for the dress would match the original.
She enlisted London company Joel & Son Fabrics, which traditionally supplies cloth to the Queen and her household – and they worked with a company in Italy to create the Honiton lace lined with white satin material for her and the dressmakers to make the outfit.
An insider told People Magazine: “It was recreated in exactly the same way. Even though there was modern machinery, they had to go back to doing a lot of it by hand so there was a mix between by hand and machinery.”
The designers wanted to make as exact a copy as possible: “It was made from scratch, from sketching it out, to embroidering the lace on a special silk-based tulle.
