Royal family to gather in Cotswolds village for wedding of Peter Phillips
Summary
The royal family will come together on Saturday to celebrate the wedding of the Princess Royal’s son Peter Phillips. The King and Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Zara and Mike Tindall and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are among those expected to descend on Kemble, near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, for the private nuptials. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not attend.
Details
It is not known whether an invitation was extended to Mr Phillips’s cousin Harry, Meghan and their children, amid reports the Sussexes were left off the guest list. Harry and Mr Phillips were close when younger but it is reported they have lost touch, with the duke, who has a longstanding rift with his brother William, moving to the US, from where he has criticised members of his family and the royal institution.
The late Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest grandson will tie the knot with NHS nurse Harriet Sperling in a ceremony at All Saints Church. Also expected to be there are Mr Phillips’s children Savannah, 15, and 14-year-old Isla, as well as Ms Sperling’s teenage daughter Georgina. Mr Phillips’s half-sister Stephanie, who was a bridesmaid at his first wedding, is also reported to be joining the congregation.
All Saints Church, with its tall spire, sits in the heart of Kemble, with its congregation described as “very much involved in village life”. Mr Phillips lives nearby on his mother’s Gatcombe Park estate in Minchinhampton. The 48-year-old is the King’s nephew, William and Harry’s first cousin, the brother of Zara, and the son of Anne and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips.
Mr Phillips split from his first wife Autumn in 2020 after 12 years of marriage and shares custody of their two children. The pair married in a grand royal wedding in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in 2008. Mr Phillips’s engagement to Ms Sperling, who he began dating in 2024, was announced in August last year.
The couple were guests of Charles and Camilla at Royal Ascot in June, and invited to take part in the traditional carriage procession the royal family make on to the famous Berkshire racecourse to signal the start of the day.
The wedding falls on the same day as the Epsom Derby, with the King and Queen set to dash from the ceremony to the racecourse, ready to watch the highlight of the racing season and present the trophy to the winner.
Report source: Gloucestershire Live