It is a fascinating blend of well-trodden history and social mobility. Clustered around a Chippendale sofa in the sunbathed Morning Room of Clarence House, this new group photograph of the Windsor and Middleton dynasties is arguably the most intriguing of the christening portraits released yesterday.
Despite the Queen’s presence and the rather Victorian familial grouping, there is a decidedly relaxed air to the picture, a portrait of a Royal Family for the modern age. Indeed, aside from the Queen, the most magisterial figure is the Duchess of Cambridge’s younger brother James, whose beard makes him look uncannily like his nephew’s great, great, great-grandfather, King George V, or even a younger looking Prince Michael of Kent.
Kate’s family - her former air hostesses turned multi-millionaire entrepreneur mother, Carole, genial father Michael, and scene-stealing sister, Pippa - are positioned around Prince William.
In contrast Kate, whose ancestors were Durham coal miners and men of the soil, is grouped with the rest of the Royal Family - a dapper-looking Duke of Edinburgh, belying his 92 years and recent ill-health, grandparents Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, and a cheeky-looking doting uncle Prince Harry.
One can only assume that celebrity photographer Jason Bell, whose previous subjects have included David Beckham and actress Scarlett Johansson, diplomatically chose to place them that way rather than give an impression of ‘them and us’.
當耳熟能詳的歷史與社會的流動彼此交融是一件多麼迷人的事，英國王位第三順位繼承人、出生三個月的喬治小王子（Prince George）於10月23日在爸媽的陪伴下在聖詹姆士宮（St James's Palace）正式受洗，洗禮儀式低調進行，僅21人獲邀出席。這是小王子自出生後第二次公開亮相，也是百年來首見英國四代君王同堂，而英國未來國王的教父母也不再僅限於皇親貴族。
