Peter Phillips and his bride Harriet Sperling couldn’t hide their delight in the first official photos following their royal wedding in the Cotswolds on Saturday 6 June.
In pictures taken by photographer Mark Nicholson, Princess Anne’s son, 48, looked very in love as he posed with the NHS nurse, 45, who was striking in her Emilia Wickstead wedding dress crafted with French lace in a clean, column silhouette, which she teamed with Jimmy Choo heels and a tiara from Pragnell.
The couple looked smitten, surrounded by foliage, with Harriet holding her white bouquet, in their official portrait taken in the Conservatory at Gatcombe Park, Princess Anne’s estate, where the reception is believed to have been held.
In a second picture, the newlyweds radiated joy as they took their first steps together as a married couple, walking out of the quaint All Saints’ Church in Kemble.
Sentimental location
The couple, who began dating in 2024, tied the knot in an intimate ceremony at All Saints Church in Kemble, a sleepy village located just 17 minutes from the Princess Royal’s Gatcombe Park estate, where Peter has a home, and just 14 minutes from King Charles’ countryside pad, Highgrove.
© Getty ImagesAside from the convenience for Peter’s relatives, the picturesque location has many more draws, explained HELLO!’s Deputy Beauty and Lifestyle Editor Melanie Macleod, who grew up in the area.
“I think they picked Kemble as the pretty village, built from golden Cotswolds stone, to reflect the low-key, humble nature of that arm of the royal family – the branch which did away with titles, rather than being named Prince Peter and Princess Zara,” she wrote, before adding that it has “none of the crowds or airs and graces other equally pretty villages have.”
This aligns with friends of the couple, who exclusively told HELLO!: “It’s an area where they grew up and is very special to them both.”
Guest list
© Getty ImagesSince it was their second marriage, with Peter previously being wed to Autumn Kelly from 2008 to 2021, and Harriet splitting from her ex Antonio St. John Sperling, they chose to keep the guest list fairly small.
Peter’s uncle, King Charles, and his wife, Queen Camilla, were among those who received an invitation, but they were forced to cut the celebrations short to travel to the Epsom Derby for a planned royal engagement in the afternoon.
The Prince and Princess of Wales and Zara and Mike Tindall also descended on the small countryside village, alongside Peter’s children Savannah, 15, and Isla, 14, and Harriet’s teenage daughter Georgina, who acted as bridesmaids.
© Samir Hussein/WireImageIn the lead-up to the wedding, the spotlight was cast not on who would be celebrating with the happy couple, but who would be notably absent. Despite previously developing a close relationship with Peter, Prince Harry was reportedly not invited to the celebrations after his 2020 move to the United States put both physical and emotional distance between the pair.
A friend close to the newlyweds previously told HELLO!: “Peter and Harry haven’t spoken for several years and have simply lost touch, so he hasn’t been invited.”
© Samir Hussein/WireImageAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, were also absent from the wedding amid their ongoing controversy. But one guest whom we imagine Peter would have loved to have witnessed his nuptials was the late Queen Elizabeth II, who died nearly three years earlier.
The wedding marked the first time one of the late monarch’s grandchildren had married without her presence, and was made particularly poignant considering Peter’s close bond with his maternal grandmother. After all, the royal was described as Queen Elizabeth’s “favourite grandson.”
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