Prince William and his wife Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge are again breaking with tradition in the lead-up to Prince George’s christening.
The couple has reportedly chosen close friends rather than royalty to be godparents to their four-month-old son, who’s due to be baptised at St James’s Palace on October 23.
Sources close to the pair have revealed the decision was based on them wanting “stability and normality” for George when choosing his six godparents.
William is said to have chosen old St Andrews University friend Fergus Boyd, who he was sitting next to when he first noticed Catherine a fashion show.
Meanwhile, Catherine has selected school friend Emilia d’Erlanger, who attended Marlborough College with her.
William’s lifelong friend Hugh van Cutsem has also reportedly been chosen as a godparent.
The couple is yet to officially make an announcement on the other three godparents.
“They are rather unexpected off-the-wall choices for godparents – not the usual suspects of William’s closest friends who we anticipated,” a royal source told UK newspaper The Sunday Times.
“The two of them have carefully chosen and agreed them together.”
William and Kate’s decision is yet another indication that they’re going to raise their son in their own way.
They have already broken away from royal christening tradition by choosing to hold the event at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace, rather than Buckingham Palace.
They have even shunned some senior royals from the event in order to make the event an “’intimate, family affair”.
Prince William’s aunts, Princess Anne and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, are believed to be among those left off the guest list.
