The Radfords, Britain's biggest family, have packed the pews of their local church, including all 22 of their children, to celebrate the christening of the two youngest members.
Parents Noel and Sue have a whopping 22 kids, with the Radford brood ranging in age from 32 all the way down to one year old.
While some of the older children have moved out and started families of their own, the majority of the Radfords all live in an enormous ten bedroom house in Morecambe.
Sue and Noel took part in the final christening for their two youngest daughters Heidi and Bonnie in the most recent episode (February 9) of Channel 5 series ‘22 Kids & Counting’, which documents the family’s often-hectic life.
The gathering in Morecambe Parish church was the first time four generations of the Radford family had gathered in one place in over two years, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Daily Star reports.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the vicar Catherine Hayden was daunted but excited by the prospect of managing such an enormous brood.
“This is my first Radford baptism,” Catherine admitted. “I love doing baptisms, and I love having a church full of children, so it is a very exciting thing to be doing.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many people from one immediate family in a church, it’s great to have them here though.”
Despite the stresses of the day’s preparations, Bonnie and Heidi’s ceremony went largely unhitched.
There were a few tears from Bonnie when the vicar dripped holy water onto her head, while Heidi pulled a rather bemused expression.
“It was nice, a nice little service, Bonnie wasn’t overly pleased with the holy water side of it, but yeah, she’s alright now,” Noel reflected.
“It’s been a really stressful week, but the kids have come through,” Sue added.
Although the day was rounded off successfully with a £40-a-head buffet, the preparations had almost been disrupted by some of the younger children’s antics.
Earlier on in the episode, Sue had been shocked to find that one of the christening dresses had been used to wipe up juice, while youngster Max caused havok after hiding his new jeans.
There were mixed emotions, though, when the couple realised that this would be their final christening after declaring earlier on in the series that they would be having no more babies.
Sue acknowledged: “It’s a bit emotional isn’t it, that it will be our last christening for our kids. That’s it, we’re going to watch the kids grow up, more grand-kids will come along.”
However, the couple’s eldest daughter Sophie, 27, was not convinced.
“I personally think there’ll be a couple more children from mum and dad,” she suggested. “And I’m never wrong.”
