Prince Harry has been made a godfather just weeks before the birth of his own child
Prince Harry will soon become a dad for the first time, but before Meghan Markle gives birth to a baby of their very own, Harry has been given another important fatherly role: godfather to Lena Tindall.
Prince Harry's cousin Zara Tindall (formerly Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne) gave birth to her second daughter, Lena Elizabeth, in June last year. On Sunday, members of the royal family came together to celebrate the ten-month-old baby's christening in a private ceremony at St Nicholas Church in Gloucestershire.
Among the royal attendees were Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Princess Anne, Zara's father Captain Mark Phillips and, somewhat surprisingly, Queen Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth hadn't been expected to make an appearance, seeing as she didn't attend Prince Louis' christening in July.
Prince Philip, at 97 years old, stayed at home instead of travelling to Gloucestershire for the ceremony, while Prince Charles was also missing because of his tour of Cuba and the Caribbean. Prince William and Kate Middleton were also noticeably absent, as their royal duties had them attending a St Patrick's Day parade in London on Sunday instead.
Meghan and Harry, who was reportedly named as one of Lena's godparents at the ceremony, were pictured holding hands as they left the church. We hadn't expected to see a pregnant Meghan Markle photographed again, as Buckingham Palace confirmed she had no more public engagements scheduled in prior to the birth of her baby. But Lena's christening was technically a private family event (despite photographs having been captured here), and therefore outside the scope of Meghan's royal workload, hence her attendance despite being heavily pregnant.
Zara Tindall and her husband, former rugby player Mike Tindall, attended Meghan and Harry's wedding at Windsor Castle last May, when Zara was eight months pregnant herself. The couple have another daughter, five-year-old Mia, but prior to Lena's birth Zara opened up about having suffered two miscarriages in between her two daughters.
"You need to go through a period where you don't talk about it because it's too raw," Zara said of her loss in a brave interview with the Sunday Times. "But as with everything, time's a great healer."
Zara and Mike Tindall chose Prince Harry to be one of their youngest daughter's godparents, but it's not the first time the father-to-be has assumed such an important role. Harry has several other godchildren, including Zalie Warren, Florence van Cutsem and Jasper Dyer, all of whom were part of Meghan's bridal party, following her down the aisle at the royal wedding.
Speaking about being a godfather in an interview on The Telegraph's podcast Mad World back in April 2017, Harry said he spends lots of playing time with his godchildren. "I think the key to that is to grow up, but also to be able to stay in touch with your childhood side. If that means going to someone's house and sitting there and playing PlayStation and kicking the ass of their son on or whatever it is, then I'll try and do that," he said.
Only a few years until you'll be playing PlayStation with your own son or daughter, Harry. Ahhh.
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