Princess Charlotte christened at royal ceremony

Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, the newest member of UK's royal family, was today christened in a low-key ceremony at a church on her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II's country estate, marking a milestone for the 9-week-old baby of Prince William and his wife Kate.
Charlotte arrived in a vintage black pram for her royal christening, attended by the Queen on her Sandringham estate.
Thousands of members of the public gathered in a paddock outside the churchyard of St Mary Magdalene for the public appearance of William and Kate with their two children, who are third and fourth in line to the throne.

William and Kate walked up with their two children, Prince George walking hand in hand with his father while his mother walked with Charlotte in the Millson pram used by the Queen for her own children in the past. It was only the second time the baby princess was seen in public since her birth on May 2.
The church is within walking distance of Anmer Hall, the duke and duchess of Cambridge's country mansion on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where they are bringing up their children.
Ahead of the ceremony on Sunday evening, Kensington Palace had confirmed William and Kate had picked William's cousin Laura Fellowes, Kate's cousin Adam Middleton and friends Thomas van Straubenzee, Sophie Carter and James Meade as five godparents of Charlotte.

Charlotte, who fourth in line to Britain's throne, wore the same gown worn by her brother at his christening - a reproduction of the Victorian christening robe worn by royal babies since 1841. The original became too fragile for further use after 2004.

She was baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the most Rev Justin Welby in a ceremony attended by just 21 guests. Prince Harry missed the event, being in Africa on a three-week tour.
Royal watchers had highlighted how the ceremony was guided by the spirit of Charlotte's late grandmother Princess Diana, who was christened in the same church in 1961.

The royal event was captured by Mario Testino, the fashion and portrait photographer who shot the last official photographs of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 shortly before her death in Paris that year.
Her influence was also felt in the duke and duchess of Cambridge's decision to invite well-wishers to share in the day.