Captain Mark Phillips turned up at his son Peter Phillips’ wedding to Harriet Sperling in Gloucestershire on Saturday, and he did not come alone. The 76-year-old was joined by his rumoured girlfriend, Belgian equestrian Florence Standaert, in a rare public appearance that placed him alongside Princess Anne’s wider family at an intimate royal gathering.
The wedding brought King Charles III and Queen Camilla, Prince William and the Princess of Wales, and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh into the same circle as Peter, 47, and his bride. For Phillips, it was another moment of visibility at a family event that carried added interest because he has stayed on good terms with Anne, even though their marriage ended in 1992.
That long connection matters because Phillips and Anne have continued to share family milestones while keeping their own lives separate. They announced their engagement in 1973, married in November that year, and went on to have two children, Peter and Zara Phillips, now Tindall. Phillips also still moves in the same equestrian world as the Windsors, which has made him a familiar figure at events where royal and sporting circles overlap.
Standaert has been part of that picture for some time. She and Phillips were first spotted together at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in 2022, were seen again supporting Zara Tindall at the Badminton Horse Trials two years later, and were photographed together at Burghley in Lincolnshire in September 2024. Sources at the time described Standaert as his girlfriend, although no formal confirmation of the relationship has been made.
The public outing leaves one thing clear: Phillips is still present at the family occasions that matter most, and Standaert is now appearing with him in the same places the Windsors do. Whether that develops into a more formal public role is still unconfirmed, but the wedding showed he is comfortable bringing her into the royal orbit when the family gathers.
