Will it be team St Andrews or the Marlborough posse for Prince George's god squad?

Phoebe Luckhurst introduces you to the most likely candidates for the role of Prince George's godparents

The role of the godparent is threefold: playtime, pressies and parties. While mum and dad have to say no sometimes — even to a future king — your godparents are supposed to spoil you rotten, keep you up past bedtime and slip you your first drink at a family party.

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely we’ll know much about Prince George’s youthful misdemeanours. While he’s no normal infant, his parents are determined he has some semblance of a private childhood — no mean feat for a tot who faced down his first media circus aged only one day. Central to this is the selection of George’s godparents: a circle of loyal friends who have known the couple since long before their wedding attracted tens of millions of viewers worldwide.

Keeping with tradition, George will have six godparents. However, unlike William’s godparents — all titled, including the former King of Greece — George’s godparents will be mere civilians (albeit posh ones).

So who are the anointed few so far? William’s friend Fergus Boyd is one; the financier was at Eton with William and met Kate at St Andrews University. He was in the same halls of residence as the couple in their first year, and shared a flat with William and Kate in their second year, around the time their relationship began. Later, the trio shared a rented farmhouse near St Andrews. Pleasingly, Fergus’s wife was also on the history of art course at St Andrews — providing a neat symmetry to William and Kate’s relationship.

Also top of the list is Emilia d’Erlanger, a long-time friend of William’s and a contemporary of Kate’s from Marlborough. When the couple split briefly in 2007, Emilia accompanied Kate on holiday to Ibiza. Hugh van Cutsem — whose family has been intertwined with the royals for several generations — is another godparent elect.

For the three remaining slots, the shortlist includes university friends Virginia Fraser, Olivia Bleasdale, Oliver Baker and Alasdair Coutts-Wood (the latter were also housemates at St Andrews) and Kate’s mate Alicia Fox-Pitt.

Ultimately, it’s a circle of trust: the godparent pool is limited to those who have known one or both parents since childhood and who have stayed completely shtum when controversy threatened. These friends treat them like people, not headlines, and when things get hard they get practical (like Emilia whisking Kate off to Ibiza).

Either way, this is one private members’ club you can’t blag your way into.

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