Peter Phillips to Make Awkward Wedding Mistake — But William, Harry & Charles Have Done It Too
One unexpected guest has sparked particular interest — Philip’s ex-wife, Autumn Kelly.
Peter Phillips is set to marry NHS nurse Harriet Sperling next week, on June 6, in an intimate countryside ceremony at All Saints' Church in Kemble. While the couple wants to keep their nuptials intimate and limited to family and friends, royal enthusiasts are keeping a close eye on the guest list. And now, one unexpected guest has sparked particular interest — Philip’s ex-wife, Autumn Kelly.
According to GB News, Kelly is expected to be among the guests when Phillips ties the knot. Although no longer together, Phillips and his ex-wife, Kelly, are said to be on cordial terms, setting a modern co-parenting example. The former couple shares two daughters, Savannah and Isla. Additionally, Kelly is also still on good terms with Princess Anne, as the duo was recently spotted together at the Cirencester Horse Trials, cheering for Zara Tindall. Nevertheless, inviting an ex-spouse to your second wedding might seem like a recipe for awkwardness.
That being said, Phillips seems to be simply following a well-trodden royal tradition. Prince William, King Charles, and even Prince Harry invited their exes to their own respective weddings. William famously invited not one but four of his ex-girlfriends, Jecca Craig, Rose Farquhar, Arabella Musgrave, and Isabella Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe. Interestingly, Kate also invited two of her ex-boyfriends, Rupert Finch and Willem Marx, to witness the historic Westminster Abbey ceremony.
Harry mirrored his brother’s open-door policy during his 2018 wedding to Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle. He ensured that both of his major long-term former girlfriends, Chelsy Davy and Cressida Bonas, were present at his wedding. The women attended the beautiful St. George's Chapel ceremony as well as the exclusive daytime luncheon reception that followed. While the concept of inviting exes may seem a little odd, the younger generations are simply following a trend that began with Charles.
At the 1981 wedding of Charles and Princess Diana at St. Paul's Cathedral, his then-ex-girlfriend Camilla Parker Bowles was seated among the guests along with her ex-husband. Who would have known that decades later, Camilla would marry Charles, eventually becoming Queen? With such precedent set by William, Harry, and Charles, Phillips’s reported decision to include Kelly on his guest list may prove far less unusual than it first appears, especially since she is the mother of his children.
