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Princess Anne was all smiles on Saturday as she arrived at All Saints’ Church in the village of Kemble for her only son’s wedding. Peter Phillips, the eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth, wed pediatric nurse and freelance writer Harriet Sperling, in a private ceremony, with several members of the British royal family present. After making their public debut in 2024, the couple announced their engagement last summer. For the special occasion, the mother of the groom wore a yellow jacket and shawl over what looked to be a dress with a red floral print. She also wore a silk yellow hat with a bow tied around the brim that appeared to be the same one worn to her daughter Zara’s christening in 1981.
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The Gloucestershire setting was fitting for both the bride and groom’s families. Gatcombe Park, Princess Anne’s country estate, sits just a short drive from Kemble, and it is the property where Peter grew up. Sperling, too, has deep roots in the county, having been raised in the nearby village of South Cerney. Her parents were also deeply involved in the local Anglican church.
Princess Anne has walked down the aisle twice herself. She first married Captain Mark Phillips in November 1973 at Westminster Abbey in a ceremony watched by an estimated 500 million television viewers worldwide. They had two children together, Peter and Zara. The couple divorced in 1992.
She remarried the following year, wedding Royal Navy officer Timothy Laurence in a quiet ceremony at Crathie Kirk in Scotland in December 1992. The low-key Scottish ceremony was a deliberate choice, as the Church of England at the time did not permit the remarriage of divorced people in church. Both Laurence and Mark Phillips were believed to be present on Saturday to witness Peter’s marriage.
Peter was previously married to Autumn Kelly from 2008 to 2021. The former couple share two daughters, Savannah, 14, and Isla, 13. Harriet was previously married to fitness instructor Antonio St. John Sperling, with whom she shares a 15-year-old daughter, Georgina.
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Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at @rk.passport.