{"id":465201,"date":"2026-06-07T09:56:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T09:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/465201\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T09:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T09:56:20","slug":"prince-harrys-absence-from-peter-phillips-and-harriet-sperling-wedding-shows-depth-of-rift-with-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/465201\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince Harry’s absence from Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling wedding shows ‘depth of rift’ with family"},"content":{"rendered":"

EXCLUSIVE: The former BBC royal correspondent shared her analysis of Prince Harry’s absence at the wedding along with the ‘brave’ appearance of Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie<\/p>\n

19:21, 06 Jun 2026Updated 19:23, 06 Jun 2026<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling leaving their wedding(Image: Samir Hussein\/WireImage)<\/p>\n

A Royal expert has suggested Prince Harry not showing up at the wedding of Peter Phillips and NHS<\/a> nurse Harriet Sperling was “another graphic illustration of the depths of the rift with his family”.<\/p>\n

Princess Anne’s son tied the knot with the nurse in an intimate wedding attended by senior members of the royal family<\/a>, at All Saints Church in Kemble, Gloucestershire. King Charles<\/a>, Queen Camilla<\/a>, the Prince and Princess of Wales<\/a> and the groom’s sister Zara Tindall were among some of the key members of the Royal Family at the ceremony.<\/p>\n

Prince Harry<\/a>, who was close with his cousin Peter when they were young, was the most glaring no-show of today’s wedding. The pair have allegedly “not spoken in years” and it is not clear if the Duke of Sussex<\/a> was invited at all.<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

Prince William, Peter Phillips and Prince Harry pictured in 2005(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

Jennie Bond, the former BBC<\/a> royal correspondent, told the Mirror<\/a> how Harry’s absence was yet another example of how far the King’s youngest son has drifted away from his family. She said: “The fact that Harry wasn\u2019t there is, however, another graphic illustration of the depths of the rift with his family. He came over for the funeral of his uncle, Lord Fellowes, two years ago when it was noted that he did not, as far as we know, exchange a single word with William.<\/p>\n

\"King<\/p>\n

King Charles III arriving at the wedding and waving to the public(Image: Samir Hussein\/WireImage)<\/p>\n

“But perhaps that kind of silence is easier at a funeral. At a wedding, the atmosphere is obviously completely different\u2026and the tensions between the brothers and between Harry and the King would have soured the day. We don\u2019t even know if Harry was in fact invited.<\/p>\n

“There certainly was a time when he was very close to his cousin Peter and I’m sure he will have taken a passing interest in the wedding celebrations from his home in California. For all we know, he may have sent a wedding gift and greetings… if he did, it’s likely to remain private.”<\/p>\n

\"Princess<\/p>\n

Princess Kate and Prince William outside the church(Image: Samir Hussein\/WireImage)<\/p>\n

The former correspondent added that the wedding showed the family “remain united” despite months of controversy surrounding the former-prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor<\/a> with the Epstein Files exposing more of his relationship with the paedophile and his arrest, in February. Mountbatten-Windsor had consistently denied all allegations against him.<\/p>\n

Bond said: “This was a much needed joyful day for the family, and a chance to show that they \u2013 or at least most of them \u2013 remain united in spite of all the damaging headlines of recent times.”<\/p>\n

\"Princess<\/p>\n

Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi , Princess Beatrice, Jack Brooksbank and Princess Eugenie arriving at the wedding(Image: Ben Birchall\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n

The expert added that the appearance of Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who have both kept a low public profile amid controversy about their father Andrew, was “quite brave”. Bond told the Mirror: “Peter has always been an immensely popular member of the family, so it was no surprise to see such a big turnout of royals. I thought it was quite brave of Beatrice and Eugenie to show up\u2026 knowing that the cameras would be on them.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The married couple in a car after the ceremony(Image: Victoria Jones\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

“They’ve had a lot of highly critical press lately and it can’t have been easy for them to face the media. But they did seem to keep quite a low profile, particularly as the bridal party left the church. I’m sure they were determined not to draw any of the limelight from the bride and groom, who looked incredibly happy and relaxed together.<\/p>\n

Bond also shared her thoughts on the NHS nurse and her daughters on the big royal occasion, adding: “I thought it was particularly charming to see Harriet’s daughter, Georgina, standing alongside her new step-sisters and soaking up this strange world<\/a> of her mother being a media star and a member of the royal family. As for Harriet herself\u2026 she certainly looked the part, even on the gloomiest of wet June days.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: The former BBC royal correspondent shared her analysis of Prince Harry’s absence at the wedding along with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465202,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[34108,13707,156,176741,8345,636,111,139,69,176742,235682,157934,160],"class_list":["post-465201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-celebrity-love-lives","tag-celebrity-weddings","tag-entertainment","tag-harriet-sperling","tag-jennie-bond","tag-marriage","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-peter-phillips","tag-peter-phillips-and-harriet-sperling-wedding","tag-royal-wedding","tag-weddings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}