Prince Philip is too ill to meet his great-grandson, six-day-old Prince George, and is unable to pose in the traditional royal family portrait until he recovers.
The Queen’s husband is currently recuperating from abdominal surgery, leaving the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge waiting to make their final senior royal family introduction.
“William would love nothing more than to see his grandfather and bring everyone together for an official photograph with Prince George,” a royal source said. “It will complete what has been such a happy time for him and Kate.
“Under normal circumstances a christening would have happened around three weeks after the birth. This would have allowed all the family to congregate under the same roof – and family photographs to have been taken. But George’s birth has come right in the middle of the holiday season.”
The timing of the birth means that the family will gather for Prince George’s christening in October – in the same place Wills was baptised 31 years ago, the music room of Buckingham Palace.
Wills and Kate have been busy showing off the royal heir, with Prince Harry shedding tears at his first sight of his nephew. Prince William has also recently vowed to take George to the gravesite of his mother, Princess Diana, in a few months’ time.
Wills and Kate are now believed to be staying with Kate’s parents Carole and Michael in their home in Berkshire, about 90km west of London.
