Princess Anne did not attend the christening of Prince Harry in 1984, and although an official reason was given as an excuse many speculate there was a more dramatic cause of her absence.
The Princess Royal had asked her elder brother, then-Prince Charles, to be the godfather of her son Peter Phillips when he was born in 1977, a position that he graciously accepted.
However the favour was not returned when Princess Diana gave birth to Prince William as Charles did not ask her to be godmother, nor did he ask two years later when Harry was born.
Royal Robert Lacey wrote in his bestseller Battle of Brothers: “The Prince did not return the compliment when it came to William – or, rather, according to rumour, he had very much wanted to invite his sister, only to be blocked by his wife.”
The frostiness between Diana and Anne led Harry’s aunt to make her feelings known about being snubbed as godmother by not attending her nephew’s christening.
Click here to join our Whatsapp community to be the first to receive news about the Royal family
Mr Lacey said of the incident: “Anne made her feelings obvious on the day. As the three-month old Prince Henry Charles Albert David, third in line to the British throne, was being baptised as Windsor in the presence of the Queen, the Queen Mother, Philip and the rest of the Royal Family, there were two conspicuous absentees.
“His aunt Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips were out in the Gloucestershire countryside, 85 miles to the west, shooting rabbits.”
They sent their young children Peter and Zara Phillips, Harry’s cousins, along with their apologies, but as the author noted: “The shooting party took precedence – it was a long-established date.”
Captain Phillips’ mother Anne explained to Mr Lacey at the time: “The Princess and my son invited a party of 10 guns for shoot three months ago. They decided it would be unfair to let these people down.”
Prince Andrew was named one of Harry’s godparents, as was Princess Margaret’s daughter Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, who had previously been Diana’s flatmate.
After Meghan Markle gave birth to Prince Archie in 2019, she and Prince Harry broke with royal tradition by refusing to name their son’s godparents after he was christened that July.
It was eventually confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had chosen Harry’s childhood friend Charlie van Straubenzee, his former nanny Tiggy Pettifer, and Mark Dyer, the former equerry to King Charles, to be godparents to Archie.
When their daughter Princess Lilibet was born two years later the family were living in the US, and details of where she would be christened were kept under wraps.
In March this year the couple announced Lilibet’s christening had been held in a small ceremony at their home in Montecito, California.
