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Queen looks on as Peter Phillips ties royal knot
First a Hello! deal, now the big day
Peter Phillips, the Queen’s eldest grandchild, became the first royal of his generation to marry yesterday.
In the presence of 300 guests including the woman he calls “Granny”, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and his girlfriend Chelsy Davy, the 30-year-old son of the Princess Royal exchanged vows with Autumn Kelly, his Canadian fiancée.
The veiled bride made her arrival at St George’s chapel in Windsor at exactly 4pm wearing a bespoke £3,000 strapless ivory dress created by the west London designer Sassi Holford, a tiara lent to her by Princess Anne, now her mother-in-law, and a necklace and earrings given to her by the groom.
The dress, featuring a bodice in beaded Chantilly lace and a two-metre long cathedral train, was complete with lace insets and descending tails. The gown was matched with a petite lace jacket and a silk tulle veil.
Autumn made her way carefully up the limestone steps, which were slick with rain, her train carried aloft by her six bridesmaids in green Vera Wang dresses. One of them was Zara Phillips, soon to be her sister-in-law.
Inside, before guests who included the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of York, his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, and the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the new Mr and Mrs Phillips promised to “love, comfort, honour and keep each other”. Autumn did not specifically offer to “obey” her husband.
By uttering their vows, the couple passed a minor genera-tional milestone for the royal family and in doing so paved the way for other higher profile weddings to come.
Prince William, whose wedding would be the most eagerly awaited of all, was not present at his eldest cousin’s nuptials.
At almost precisely the time that Peter and Autumn were being married in Windsor, William was guest of honour at the marriage of Batian Craig, the brother of his former girlfriend Jecca, in a wildlife park in the foothills of Mount Kenya. William’s girlfriend Kate Middle-ton attended the Phillips’s ceremony in his place.
In keeping with a modern royal wedding, the day was dominated by the spectre of Hello! magazine which was rumoured to have paid for special access to what Buckingham Palace described as a “private” ceremony.
William may appear in a subsequent edition of the glossy magazine if rumours are correct that it has also paid to cover the Craig wedding.
Peter and his fiancée appeared in Hello! over 19 gushing pages earlier this month as part of a deal worth a reported £500,000. In the article Peter described his gratitude to his mother for allowing him and Zara to lead normal lives rather than trade on their royal connections. The contrast between that stance and the taking of the Hello! shilling has reportedly raised eyebrows among courtiers.
Others defended the couple’s decision to “sell” details of their relationship. Sir Michael Parkin-son, for whom 30-year-old Kelly works as a personal assistant, said criticism of the magazine deal was “odd and cynical”. He said Hello! was unlikely to impose itself on the ceremony in an intrusive way. “We’re not talking about the Spice Girls here, you know,” he said.
The wedding was also remarkable for the fact that Autumn, raised a Catholic, had agreed to renounce her faith and join the Church of England. Under the Act of Settement, any future monarch is forbidden from taking the throne if he has married a Catholic. Phillips is 11th in line to the throne.
At around 3pm a steady trickle of guests began to make their way through a small crowd of wellwishers and royal watchers, several bearing Union Jack umbrellas, to the stone-stepped entrance of St George’s chapel.
Peter entered the chapel at around 3pm, accompanied by his best men Ben Goss and Andrew Tucker, schoolfriends from his time at Gordonstoun.
Following Autumn’s entrance on the arm of her father Brian, the wedding began with a musical medley, hymns and then the ceremony itself.
As the couple walked out of the church to be whisked away to the reception in a horse-drawn “Balmoral sociable carriage”, the congregation erupted into applause. Autumn, holding a bouquet and linking arms with her new husband, walked gingerly down the damp steps with the rest of the royal family.
Additional reporting: Rob Crilly and Lewa Downs in Kenya
A hard-working suburban girl
Autumn Kelly’s background makes her a somewhat unlikely candidate to become a royal bride.
She was brought up in a suburb of Montreal, the daughter of Brian, a retired electricity company executive, and Kitty, a hairdresser, who later divorced. One brother works as a bricklayer and another earns his living as a chef.
One uncle has a more eyebrow-raising occupation. For some years Gary Smith, who is married to her father’s sister Jill, owned a strip club, the Platinum Dolls Show Palace. One act was reportedly a disabled pregnant dancer named “the one-armed bandit”. Later the club became a gay bar.
An adept sportswoman, Autumn also did well at school and studied Mandarin and Japanese history at university. While a student she paid her way serving as a barmaid and later worked as an actress and model. After meeting Peter Phillips at the Canadian Grand Prix in 2003, she moved to Britain and for the past year has worked as a PA to Sir Michael Parkinson.
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Oh My! Princess Beatrice's hat! Otherwise, congratulations to the happy couple.
Shelley, Ancaster, Canada
I congratulate Princess Anne, for rearing 2 lovely children. I feel that they are well ajusted adults and have a close relationship with each parent. I believe that Autumn will be a great asset , as will Zara's Mr. Tinsdale..... There are no "heirs" about them.. Just normal people..
Catherine, Ontario,
Good luck to them. Have to say that it is certainly peculiar that she felt she had to give up her Catholic faith so he can retain his position in line to the throne. Are Catholics still second class citizens? Even Tony Blair waited until he was not PM to "convert"...
Jimbob, Horsham,
I love a Wedding, Peter and Autumn love each other and thats what counts and everyone runs across some bumps and they accept or change and it is their happiness that really counts. Nice wedding photos and happy to see A Canadian Princess even though she does not have a title - he is a prince. xoxo
Theresa Wess, Salmon Arm, Canada
I just love it when people refer to guys like Peter Phillips as having led a "normal" life because he didn't get a title. Her engagement ring cost $150,000, that little "cottage" they live in is out of reach of most people, and there is nothing this man ever wanted that he couldn't have.
Elizabeth Renant, Santa Fe, NM, USA
If the law prevented a member of the Royal Family marrying someone from an ethnic minority there would, rightly, be outrage. The letters page of The Guardian would be ablaze,
Womans Hour would shriek and scream, etc.
Catholics are still regarded as dubious and a legitimate target .
Good Luck P&A
Adrian de Redman, Birmingham, UK
How disgusting for a bride to be forced to change her religion so as to insure her husband can secure a position in the years ahead paricularliy has his succession chance is nil.
One can only assume the bride to be a part time Catholic who threw away her faith to acheive a privilege denied to her
T Lane, Bristol, England
Best wishes to them but to marry the man she loves she should'nt have to renounce her religion its time to renounce the ridiculous law of sucession if its not discrimination what is it Tony Blair had to wait to leave office to become catholic. Time to move on from the dark ages
Meg, Watford, England
Autumn wasn't forced to become Anglican to preserve her husband's tenuous link to the throne. Rather she did it in order to be able to be with him on those occasions when they are in a Christian Church and to be able to fully participate with him and their family. Good for her! All happiness to them
Howard Knowles, Toronto, Canada
The differences between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches are rather minor:
1. The Pope is the most important person in the world.
2. To become ordained is to literally marry the church.
In-breeding doesn't work well in humans. An Irish girl from Canada will be good for the Royal family
Sam, Arredondo, FL, USA
alex from paris go to Belfast Glasgow or for that matter Manchester and tell catholics to "stop victimizing themselves"......England is not truly a secular country and never can be with this mentality...it is instead a country in a constant and futile state of cultural war
anne, paris, france
Who cares? Just another generation of hangers-on and parasites to come!
JoeMac, Somewheriac, France
Catholics need to stop victimising themselves, if anyone's guilty of discrimination it's the Catholic church itself!
Alex, Paris,
I am married to a Catholic and seem to remember
that the Catholic church only recognizes marriages
performed in their churches and demanding that
any children from the marriage are raised as Catholics.
Is this not discrimination?
edna cabras, Sassari, Itlaly
What a smear on this wedding when the bride has to give up her faith,which could not have been very strong,if she had the faith in the first place, to marry the man she loves, says a lot for the groom.
Memories of Diana Doddi revived???
Oops forgot wev'e moved on!!!
Patrich Mason
Bristol
Patrick Mason, Bristol, England
congratulations to the lovely couple.I dont understand Autumn renouncing her religion .He is never going to be king being 11th in line.
trish green, liverpool, england
What difference does it make how her brothers make their living. We live in the second milleanium now, where people do what they want, not what others expect them to do.
Nigel Harris, Ottawa, Canada
As Mr Peter Phiips is not 'Royal' why is a Royal wedding?
jen, london,
i think its disgusting to be forced to renounce your cultural past in order to pursue your cultural future terrible philosophy on the part of the crown
anne, paris, france
How wonderful that the royal family is marrying outside their snooty click. Gives a lovely modern feel to it. Congratulations to Peter & Autumn (lovely name) and may you continue to have a life time of happiness. Good for them for selling their wedding to 'hello.
Lucee, Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
Where was the grooms father ?He was never mentioned
anywhere.
ralph pilkington, Zorneding nr.Munich, Germany
"Obey your husband" is often misunderstood in Western countries. Its in the family tree, that husband is the head. It doesnt mean he is more powerful than his wife. Someone should be the head - and God created man to be the head of the family.
Edwin, Chennai, India
Many many congratulations!
And some folks, why all the negativity?!
katie, London,
Surely there must be concern that the system forced the bride to 'renounce' her religion. This stain on the British state needs to be addressed and ended, particularly given the diversity of religious belief within the State.
Jim O'Sullivan, Sligo, Ireland
Hearty congratulations to Prince Peter Phillips and
Ms.Autumn Kelly on your Wedding.
s.venkateshwaran, Mumbai , india
I wish Peter Phillips happiness in his marriage to Autumn Kelly. But will she end up being the winter of his discontent?
Ed May, Derby, UK
In this day and Age the Establishment are still discriminating against Catholics
M Dennett, Dubai, U A E
Who cares what her father worked as or what her uncle owns or the fact that she comes from a fancy housing estate in Canada. The Royal family and Princess Anne are lovely, its the snooty Royal Aid 'swho have the problem with status. Kate's mum was a waitress in the Sky, good on the Royals!
Marianna, London, UK