Kate and William's Prince George to be christened on October 23

London: Prince George, Britain’s future  monarch and the son of Prince William and Kate Middleton, will be christened on October 23 at the chapel where Prince Diana’s body lay before her funeral. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced the details of their son’s christening to take place at the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace. [caption id=“attachment_1138587” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The first royal baby portrait. AP image[/caption] The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, will perform the christening. The choice of venue is a break with recent tradition, as Queen Elizabeth II, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge were all christened in Buckingham Palace. The Chapel Royal holds vivid memories for William, as it was the place where the body of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, lay in front of the altar for a week after she died. Prince William and his brother Prince Harry were taken to the chapel to pay their respects in private at the time, before the Princess’s very public funeral at Westminster Abbey. Royal aides were quoted as saying by The Telegraph the choice of venue was “very much a personal choice” by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who considered other royal chapels including St George’s Chapel, Windsor, where Prince Harry was christened. “They just liked it,” a source was quoted as saying by the daily. “It’s a very intimate venue and has a nice atmosphere. They are familiar with the other chapels, but this was the one that most appealed to them,” the source said The Duke’s biographer, Penny Junor, suggested the choice of the Chapel Royal was the Duke’s way of including his mother in the ceremony. The prince, who was born on July 22 at St Mary’s Hospital in London, is third in line to the throne held by his great-grandmother. “Close members of the families” would attend the christening, along with “some other senior guests”, the BBC reported. The Royal Chapel, built by Henry VIII, was small and the duke and duchess were believed to want a “small, private ceremony”. Earlier, Kensington Palace announced that a new coat of arms had been chosen to represent the duke and duchess as a married couple. Prince William was christened at Buckingham Palace in August 1982 by Dr Robert Runcie, then the Archbishop of Canterbury. PTI