The Crown Jewels almost never leave the Tower of London, let alone London, but two precious items will be taken to Norfolk in great secrecy on Sunday to play a central role in the christening of Princess Charlotte.
The 175-year-old Lily Font, leaving the capital for the first time, will hold water from the River Jordan with which the youngest member of the Royal family will be baptised, and the water will be poured from a solid silver ewer. So tight is the security around all of the Crown Jewels that the exact timing and manner of their arrival in Norfolk is known to only a handful of people, and the man responsible for their upkeep takes great care never to be photographed.
Martin Swift, the Crown Jeweller since 2012, will allow only his gloved hands to appear in pictures with any of the items in the Tower, and is reluctant even to describe the custom-made box in which the font will be transported. “To my knowledge it will be the first time the Lily Font has left London,” he said, “and hopefully it will come back in one piece.
“We have had a travelling case constructed for it, to keep things rock-solid when it is moved. I can’t say how it will be moved though.”
Princess Charlotte will be christened at 4.30pm in the church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate, where her late grandmother Diana, Princess of Wales, was also christened and where the Royal family worship on Christmas Day every year. Thousands of members of the public are expected to turn out to see Princess Charlotte after the Duke and Duchess arranged for a paddock next to the church to be opened for the occasion.
Fewer than 30 people will attend the service; alongside the Duke and Duchess, Princess Charlotte and Prince George will be the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. Michael, Carole, Pippa and James Middleton will represent the Duchess of Cambridge’s side of the family. The young princess will wear the same christening robe as worn by her brother Prince George, a replica of a Victorian gown made by the Queen’s dressmaker Angela Kelly in 2004.
Made of silk with a Honiton lace overlay, the original was used at every royal christening from 1841 to 2004, and was worn by 62 babies before its eventual retirement. The original was deemed too fragile for further use, and James, Viscount Severn, son of the Earl and Countess of Wessex, became the first royal baby to wear the new incarnation. His sister, Lady Louise Windsor, was the last to wear the old one. Princess Charlotte will be the fifth baby to wear the current version.
The godparents and their spouses, whose names were to be announced on Sunday morning, will also be there, and Prince George’s nanny, Maria Borrallo, is expected to attend in a working capacity. One person who will not be there is Prince Harry, who has not been chosen as a godparent and is on a three-month visit to Africa. His cousins, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, are the bookies’ favourites to be given roles as godparents.
After the service the guests will retire to Sandringham for an afternoon tea hosted by the Queen and official photographs taken by Mario Testino. But as they arrive and leave the church they will be swamped by goodwill messages from the public, who will mass behind rope barriers for a rare chance to take part in a royal christening, an event that is almost always held in a royal palace away from public view.
Tradition will loom large over the christening, which will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Lily Font, which was also used for the christening of Prince George, Princes William and Harry, the Prince of Wales and the Queen, has been used for the baptisms of almost every royal baby since it was commissioned by Queen Victoria in 1840. Victoria paid £401 10 shillings to have it made because she did not want her children to be christened in the same font that was used for the illegitimate offspring of Charles II.
Made of solid gilded sterling silver, it weighs more than 9.5kg and stands 43cm high. The bowl is a large, open lily bloom, hence its name, and it is decorated with lilies, ivy and cherubs. It is only used for royal children who are entitled to an HRH title. The ewer from which the water will be poured — sourced from the river where Christ was baptised — was made in 1735 for the christening of George III. It is a tulip-shaped pitcher with a handle topped by a figure of Hercules holding a large club and slaying the hydra, the second of his 12 labours, created to symbolise the triumph of Christian virtue over vice.
Swift said the two items had needed no more than a quick dust before they were ready to leave for Norfolk. “All of the Crown Jewels are given a thorough clean once a year,” he said. “It’s a fiddly job done with jewellers’ polishing cloths and cotton buds, and the only additional thing we have to do with the font is clean up any water marks after the baptism.”
