Princess Diana Felt "Excluded" at Prince William's Christening
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Looking back on this day in royal history.
On August 4, 1982, six-week-old Prince William was baptized in the music room at Buckingham Palace, and, despite the picture-perfect moments caught on camera, the day didn't exactly go off without a hitch.
Like all royal christenings, William wore the Honiton white lace gown (a garment first commissioned by Queen Victoria in 1842) and posed for the official family portrait, but not every detail fell in line with tradition.
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During the actual baptism, tap water held in the Lily Font was poured onto the future king's head, as the British monarchy's supply from the River Jordan (where Jesus was baptized) was depleted at the time. And, according to Will's mother Princess Diana, that wasn't the only blunder that occurred.
“Nobody asked me when it was suitable for William – 11 o’clock, couldn’t have been worse,” Princess Diana told royal biographer Andrew Morton about the christening's start-time in the book Diana: Her True Story.
In archival photos and videos, a visibly upset William cried in his mother's arms nearly the entire time.
It was just one of many ways Diana felt shunned during her son's special day. “Endless pictures of the Queen, Queen Mother, Charles and William. I was excluded totally that day. I felt desperate, because I had literally just given birth – William was only 6 weeks old. And it was all decided around me. Hence the ghastly pictures,” Diana said.
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She continued: “Everything was out of control, everything. I wasn’t very well and I just blubbed my eyes out. William started crying too. Well, he just sensed that I wasn’t exactly hunky-dory.”
Luckily, for Diana, and the rest of the family, Harry's baptism two years later was much more light-hearted, thanks to Will's silly shenanigans. After the ceremony, Will instigated a game of tag with his cousin Zara Tindall, and, during the photo call, he refused to sit in his designated seat. Instead, he stood in the center of the room much to the delight of the other royals.
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Leave it to a mischievous 2-year-old to bring a smile onto everyone's face.