By Sara Howlett
Saturday Jun 25 2011

Don Corleone eat your heart out: these days, the rich and famous want a godfather -- or mother-- with star status. Sara Howlett looks at the cream of the crop for today's celebrity offspring

When it comes to picking a godparent for your newborn child, you want the best for them. Most people pick their best friend or someone who would make a good role model.

But if you are rich and famous, who better to help you support your son or daughter on the road to adulthood than someone with star status?

Victoria and David Beckham are thought to have considered a host of celebrities to be godparents to their unborn daughter (due July 4), but Posh is said to have already asked 'Desperate Housewives' star Eva Longoria to take on the important role.

Other big names to be considered by the Beckhams included Gordon Ramsay and his wife Tana, supermodel Heidi Klum and her singer hubby Seal, and even royal couple Wills and Kate.

And it seems more and more A-listers are picking fellow celebs to help out with their Tinseltown tots and giving their red-carpet pals the all-important part.

Forget fairy godmothers; all the cool kids have superstar godparents nowadays. We take a look at celebrity sprogs and their famous guardians.

The Jolie-pitt twins.

Celebrity godparent: Bono.

When Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt gave birth to twins Vivienne and Knox, they asked Bono to be the godfather. It was reported that the couple spent the first few weeks after the birth of the twins recuperating at Bono's home in the south of France, after which Brad popped the question.

The U2 frontman and Brangelina share a love of charity work and saving the world.

THE BECKHAM BOYS

Celebrity godparents: Elton John and David Furnish.

In December 2004, Posh and Becks spent £1m on a glitzy Christmas christening for their sons Brooklyn and Romeo. As if having one of the world's biggest celebrity couples for parents was not enough for Posh's little darlings, they have a pop megastar for a godfather too.

Elton and David became godparents to the young boys and there has been speculation that Elton will one day share out his multi-million-pound fortune between his lucky wards. Elton says: "If I'm their godfather and I love my godchildren, why shouldn't I leave them something?"

ZACHARY FURNISH-JOHN

Celebrity godparent: Lady Gaga.

Elton and Gaga struck up a friendship after performing together at the Grammy Awards in 2010 and, later, he and his husband David Furnish asked the outlandish singer to be godmother to their little bundle of joy Zachary.

Elton felt she was the perfect role model for their little boy and said: "When you get to the reality, there's a real simple person under there who loves her parents."

Elton said Gaga was also the perfect choice to help Zachary cope with his fame as he grows older.

He said: "Zachary's going to inherit an incredible musical legacy from his father one day, and she will be a good person to guide him through the ins and outs of the music business, because she sure knows everything about the business now."

David further praised the singer for her broad-mindedness, saying she would be a positive influence on their baby boy. He said: "She's all about inclusiveness and tolerance. She believes that you can be whoever you want to be and that we don't have to live in a world of conformity and that we can all benefit from individuality.

"That's the best message in the world. The freedom to be who you are, do what you want and love who you want to love."

COCO COX-ARQUETTE

Celebrity godparent: Jennifer Aniston.

When Courteney Cox and her estranged hubby David Arquette welcomed their daughter Coco into the world, they had just one 'Friend' in mind for the job of godmother.

They were lucky-- because Jennifer Aniston had already set her heart on the important role and told them she was the best woman for the job. She says: "I just said, 'You may have other people you want, but I am officially making myself the godmother'."

Jen has some experience of having a famous godparent -- her own godfather was the late 'Kojak' actor Telly Savalas.

ROCCO RITCHIE

Celebrity godparents: Sting and Trudie Styler.

Young Rocco Ritchie was given Sting's wife Trudie as a godmother as she was responsible for introducing Madonna to her ex-husband, director Guy Ritchie. The 57-year-old -- who was an executive producer for the filmmaker's hit movies 'Snatch' and 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' -- felt the pair were well-suited for romance, and invited both to a dinner party in 1998.

Styler says: "Oh, God! Yes, I had a sense that they'd really like each other and really complement each other and I think they do -- they're fantastic parents, and they sparkle when they're together."

As a way of saying thank you for playing cupid between them, Madonna and Guy gave Trudie the job of godmother and Sting was named godfather to their son Rocco.

BILLY RAY BURTON

Celebrity godparent: Johnny Depp.

Johnny Depp and Tim Burton seem almost inseparable in work and now their family lives are interlinked too. 'Pirates of the Caribbean' mainstay Johnny says he was surprised when he was asked to be Billy's godfather because quirky moviemaker Tim couldn't bring himself to ask Johnny the important question -- so he made his wife Helena Bonham Carter do it instead.

Depp says: "Tim and I were doing 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and I was on the set. One of my pals comes up and says, 'Helena just rang she wants you to call her back'.

"So I call Helena and say, 'Hey, what's going on? Is everything all right?' And she says, 'Everything's fine. But Tim wants you to be Billy's godfather'."

Depp adds: "I could not understand it because I was just with Tim three minutes before. So she called me to ask because Tim just couldn't. That was his way of asking. I went back to the set and said, 'Thank you'. I told him that I was honoured.

"It doesn't get heavier than saying, 'I'd like you to be the godfather of my son'. But he's not ever going to put himself into a corny kind of situation with a pal. He's like, 'Good, yeah, yeah'. Boom. 'Let's get back into the work'."

BLUEBELL HALLIWELL

Celebrity godparent: Victoria Beckham.

What more could a little girl ask for than a doting godmother who is obsessed with style and fashion? So little Bluebell Halliwell is set to have a wardrobe bulging with designer clothes for life after her mum Geri Halliwell asked her former Spice Girls bandmate to be godmother.

Bluebell was christened in a lavish, private ceremony in Hampstead, London, and Victoria flew over especially for the service.

A close pal of the Spice Girl said: "Victoria was thrilled to be asked to be godmother. Although they fell out when Geri walked out on the Spice Girls years ago, they became really close again. Geri's relied on her old friend for advice on motherhood and was delighted that Victoria agreed to be Bluebell's godmother."

DREW BARRYMORE

Celebrity godparent: Steven Spielberg.

As well as being one of her first bosses on the set of 'ET', Steven Spielberg has a family connection to his blockbuster's young star, Drew Barrymore. He is her godfather.

The multi-millionaire movie mogul has always looked out for a sometimes wayward Barrymore and reportedly sent her a quilt for her 20th birthday, attaching a copy of the 'Playboy' magazine in which she posed nude. Spielberg put in a note on the front page saying, "Cover yourself up".

Drew shares godfather Spielberg with 'Iron Man' actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

MATILDA LEDGER

Celebrity godparent: Jake Gyllenhaal.

Since her father Heath Ledger died, little Matilda Ledger has had to rely on her godfather Jake and mother Michelle Williams for support.

Heath asked his co-star and on-screen lover to be godfather to his baby daughter after the actors became best pals on the set of 'Brokeback Mountain'.

After Heath's life took its tragic turn, Gyllenhaal has found himself fulfilling his godfather role just as he promised. He has vowed to help Williams raise Matilda and has described his pivotal role in her life as "an amazing honour and it's not something I take lightly".

NICOLE RICHIE

Celebrity godparent: Michael Jackson.

Supportive godparent relationships work both ways, and the late Michael Jackson found that out after his goddaughter Nicole Richie came to his defence after he was charged with improper sexual behaviour with children.

- Sara Howlett

Originally published in

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