Princess Charlotte christened in English countryside

Princess Charlotte is ready for her closeup.

Like brother Prince George and countless royal babies before her, she is now officially named — Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge — and has entered the communion of the Church of England.

The 2-month-old second royal baby — daughter of Prince William and Duchess Kate of Cambridge, granddaughter of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, and fifth great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh — was christened Sunday in a historic little church in the heart of "England's green and pleasant land," as the song goes.

The 45-minute private ceremony for close family and friends blended royal tradition, church ritual, modern media management and a heaping helping of sentiment:

It took place in the church of St Mary Magdalene on the queen's sprawling Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where Prince William's beloved mother Diana was herself baptized in 1961.

In a first sighting of the four Cambridges together, the family walked about a quarter-mile from Sandringham to the church, as the media cameras clicked and crowds lining the lane cheered. When Kate took the baby from a large black pram, it looked as if Charlotte was fussing a little.

And after the ceremony, a crowd of well-wishers and reporters got to see the royal children up close when the Cambridges broke with convention and came out of the church to greet well-wishers in the paddock. The gesture was made as a thank-you to the British public for good wishes for the baby, the palace announced earlier.

All of this produced new pictures (and twit-pics) of the baby and Prince George, a rare treat for an adoring British public that avidly soaks up any new snaps of the rambunctious toddler (he turns 2 on July 22) and his baby sister.

During the walk to the church, George seemed fascinated, as he has in previous appearances, by the noise of the crowds watching, and he kept turning his head to look. When they reached the church, Will prompted him to shake hands with the cleric who greeted them.

After the ceremony, the party returned to Sandringham House for tea with the queen, plus the assembling for the official christening portrait by celebrity portrait photographer Mario Testino, producing even more pictures.

Guests were served the traditional christening cake, slices from Will and Kate's eight-tier wedding cake, made from 17 individual fruit cakes and decorated with cream and white icing.

A Kensington Palace press statement helpfully reminded that the cake, designed by Fiona Cairns, included up to 900 individually iced flowers and leaves of 17 different varieties, plus a garland design around the middle that matched the architectural garlands around the top of the Picture Gallery in Buckingham Palace, where the cake was displayed during the 2011 wedding.

George, his blond hair neatly combed, was wearing red shorts and a white smocked shirt with red details, by British baby designer Rachel Riley, plus his customary socks and Christopher Robin-style shoes.

It was almost identical to the outfit Will wore when he went to the hospital to meet newborn Prince Harry in 1984. Given past patterns, George's outfit (priced at $189) are likely to sell out quickly.

Charlotte, who was in a vintage baby buggy, or pram as the Brits call it, wore the royal christening gown, 2.0.

The original, a silk, satin and lace garment made for Queen Victoria's first child in 1841, had been worn by every royal baby up to 2008. But it was too fragile for further use so the queen commissioned a replica, which George wore and Charlotte did, too.

It will be harder to find Duchess Kate's outfit: She wore a creamy white coat dress, custom-made by the Alexander McQueen label, with a wide flaring collar neckline and a matching hat.

As with George's baptism in 2013, the christening was conducted by the head of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury The Most Reverend Justin Welby.

The family and guests numbered less than 25, including 11 relations plus five godparents and their spouses. Led by the queen, the party included the baby's grandparents on both sides of the family, her parents and their siblings (except for Prince Harry, who is in Africa on a conservation mission), plus George and his nanny, Maria Teresa Borrallo.

The five godparents, announced the morning of the ceremony, are two fewer than George's and no royals were included. Instead, Princess Diana's niece, Laura Fellowes, 34, daughter of Diana's sister Lady Jane Fellowes, was named one of the five.

The others are Adam Middleton, Kate's cousin; Sophie Carter, one of Kate's closest friends; James Meade, one of Will's closest friends from Eton; and Thomas van Straubenzee, close family friend to both Will and Harry.

Once again, Pippa and Harry were left off the godparent list, despite early speculation to the contrary.

In a break with convention, the ceremony took place in Norfolk, England, about two hours drive north of London, at Sandringham where the Cambridges have their country home, Anmer Hall.

Royal babies this close to the throne (Charlotte is fourth-in-line) are usually christened in London. George's ceremony took place in the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace in October 2013.

The venue, a quintessential English country church, St. Mary Magdalene, may not have been the usual but it is definitely royal: The church has been used by royals since Queen Victoria's time, and it's also the church where the royal family celebrates Christmas.

Following tradition, the ceremony included the Lily Font, the elaborately wrought silver baptismal font commissioned by Queen Victoria in 1840 after the birth of her first child and used in royal christenings ever since, including at George's.

Charlotte's baptism also took place a bit earlier than George's, possibly to accommodate the queen's unyielding schedule: She decamps to her Balmoral Castle in Scotland every summer for two months.

The flower bouquets well-wishers brought for Charlotte are to be donated to one of her mother's charities, the East Anglia's Children's Hospices, which supports children and families living with life-threatening illnesses, and plans to distribute them to hospices in the region.

The week ahead will be busy for Prince William, less so for Duchess Kate, who is still on maternity leave from her royal duties. She appeared for the all-important Trooping the Colour parade celebrating the queen's birthday last month, and was spotted at a polo match with George the next day, but hasn't been seen much since Charlotte was born May 2.

But she and Will are scheduled to take in some of the tennis at Wimbledon on Wednesday. Will has a full agenda of royal duties before he returns to his other day job as an air ambulance chopper pilot in Norfolk.

On Tuesday, he will join survivors and families of victims for the 10th anniversary memorial of the July 7, 2005, London bombing, in Hyde Park.

On Thursday, as part of the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, he will visit the Imperial War Museum to accept the gift to the museum of a newly restored Supermarine Spitfire Mark I.

And on Friday, he will join the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to view a RAF Flypast to mark the battle anniversary.