Princess Beatrice has put her own spin on royal tradition by holding the celebration after the christening of her second daughter in a pub.
The princess and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, were seen arriving at a central London pub after the baptism of baby Athena.
With them were Athena’s godmother, Princess Nina of Greece.
The royal guests were entertained to a pub lunch to mark the christening of 10 month old Athena, who is 11th in line to the throne.
The christening took place in the Chapel Royal of St. James’ Palace, a favourite for royal celebrations.
The chapel is where Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840. Princess Beatrice and Edoardo originally planned to wed there but had to change their plans because of the pandemic and ended up saying ‘I do’ in a simple ceremony in Windsor.
The Chapel Royal was also chosen by the Prince and Princess of Wales for the christening of their sons. Prince George was baptised there in October 2013 while Prince Louis was christened there in 2018. Princess Charlotte’s christening took place at St. Mary Magdalene church at Sandringham in 2015.
Princess Beatrice was seen leading her guests into the pub after the ceremony. She wore a deep red dress and navy coat while Princess Nina was in all white.
The christening also marked the first time that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had been seen inside a palace since The King stripped him of his royal titles a few weeks ago.
Along with his former wife, Sarah Ferguson, he attended the baptism of their fourth grandchild. The two arrived separately for the ceremony with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor seen arriving at St. James on the morning of the ceremony.
It’s expected that other, more long standing royal traditions were observed at the service. Athena is believed to have worn the replica of the Honiton lace christening gown which has been used by the Royal Family since 2007 and which replaced the original dress which was commissioned by Queen Victoria in 1840 following the birth of her first child, Princess Victoria.
Royal babies are usually christened with water from the River Jordan.
King Charles and Queen Camilla aren’t thought to have attended.
The King will speak publicly later of his cancer recovery in a special message for Stand Up for Cancer’s evening of programmes on Channel 4.
