WINDSOR, ENGLAND – APRIL 5: Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling attend the 2026 Easter Matins Service at St George’s Chapel on April 5, 2026 in Windsor, England. (Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)Mark Cuthbert/Getty Images
Gloucestershire will be awash with royal wedding fever on Saturday 6 June when Peter Phillips, son of Princess Anne and nephew of King Charles III, ties the knot with NHS nurse Harriet Sperling. The couple have announced, via a spokesperson, that their nuptials will be an ‘intimate’ affair to be held at All Saints Church in Cirencester.
Following the religious service, it has been reported that the reception will be hosted by the Princess Royal at nearby Gatcombe Park – a location that holds a ‘special resonance’ for Peter and is near where his soon-to-be bride spent her childhood.
Purchased by Queen Elizabeth II in 1976 for Princess Anne and her then husband, Captain Mark Phillips, the Grade II-listed property dates back to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when the manors of Minchinhampton and Avening were granted to Lord Windsor, though his family would go on to sell the land to Philip Sheppard in 1656. Once home to the annual Festival of British Eventing (declared in 2023 to be ‘unfeasible to run’ by Mark and Peter Phillips), Gatcombe has played a key part in Princess Anne’s royal career. Both her children, Peter and his sister Zara Tindall, were raised on the estate.
A fitting locale for Peter’s wedding reception, then. And, rumour has it, the big day has yet another royal tie. According to reports, both the ceremony and the following party have been planned by Peregrine Armstrong-Jones, the half-brother of Princess Margaret’s ex-husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon. Peregrine and Peter Phillips know each other well: after all, Peregrine organised Peter’s 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle. The event mastermind, who works under Bentley’s Entertainment, was also responsible for the weddings of Mike and Zara Tindall, Victoria and David Beckham, and the wedding of Hugh Grant to Anna Elisabet Eberstein.
But, the question on all royal watchers’ lips is: who is on the guest list? Does an ‘intimate’ wedding mean no royal relatives will be in attendance? On the contrary. Peter Phillips is close to his family – and there is every indication Harriet Sperling gets on famously with them, too – and has invited many of his closest aunts, uncles and cousins to celebrate his union.