Peter Phillips married NHS nurse Harriet Sperling on Saturday in a private wedding at All Saints Church in Kemble, Gloucestershire, but the scene outside looked anything but private. Cheering well-wishers lined the village road as the King and Queen arrived, joined by the Prince and Princess of Wales and other senior members of the royal family.
The turnout underlined why the ceremony drew so much attention on the same day as the Epsom Derby. Phillips, 48, is the son of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips and is 19th in line to the British throne, while Sperling arrived with three bridesmaids, including Phillips's daughters Savannah and Isla and her teenage daughter Georgina.
Locals in Kemble had been preparing for the visit for weeks. Zoe Fraser said the village had known about the wedding for two or three months, had held a special litter pick and had put local bell ringers through plenty of practice. Another onlooker, Pemil, said she was excited to be there and had brought flowers in the hope of giving them to members of the royal family, especially Catherine.
The ceremony drew a wider family gathering than the word private might suggest. Zara and Mike Tindall were there, along with the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, while Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice arrived with their husbands, Jack Brooksbank and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Prince William and Catherine were greeted by the public as they reached the church, adding to the sense that a quiet village service had become a royal occasion in plain view.
Phillips and Sperling began dating in 2024 after his split from Autumn Kelly in 2020, and their engagement was announced in August 2025. The choice of All Saints Church fit a story that had been building in Kemble for months, but the day also had a broader royal calendar attached to it: the King and Queen were set to leave the ceremony for the racecourse, watch the Epsom Derby and present the trophy to the winner.
For Phillips and Sperling, the marriage is now public fact, even if the guest list and any words from the couple after the service remain unspoken. What was planned as a private church wedding ended as a village spectacle, with the royal family visible at close range and the day still set to continue at Epsom.
