Peter Phillips

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Template:Short description Template:Other people Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Peter Mark Andrew Phillips (born 15 November 1977) is a British businessman. He is the son of Anne, Princess Royal, and Mark Phillips, and a nephew of King Charles III. Born during the reign of his maternal grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, Phillips was fifth in the line of succession to the British throne; as of 2025, he is 19th.

Phillips attended the University of Exeter and later worked for Jaguar Racing. He is managing director for SEL UK, a boutique sports management company. In 2008, he married Canadian management consultant Autumn Kelly at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle; they have two children. They separated in 2019 and divorced in 2021.

Early life and education

Peter Mark Andrew Phillips was born at 10:46Template:Nbspam on 15 November 1977, in the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, London.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref><ref name="BBC On This Day"/> He was the first child of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips, who had married in 1973, and the first grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.<ref name="BBC On This Day">Template:Cite news</ref> At the time of his birth, there was a 41-gun salute from the Tower of London.<ref name="BBC On This Day"/> He was baptised on 22 December 1977 by the Archbishop of Canterbury Donald Coggan in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace.<ref name=Profile>Template:Cite news</ref> His godparents were his maternal uncle, Prince Charles; Geoffrey Tiarks; Captain Hamish Lochore; Lady Cecil Cameron of Lochiel and Jane Holderness-Roddam.<ref name=Godparents>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Badminton Horse Trials, Gloucestershire 1983 - Geograph 6574623.jpg
Phillips with his mother and grandmother at the Badminton Horse Trials in 1983

Phillips was fifth in line to the throne at birth and remained so until the birth of his cousin William, Prince of Wales in 1982. His parents were said to have refused offers from his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II that would have led to his being born in the peerage. Phillips was the first legitimate grandchild of a monarch in more than 500 years to be born without a title or courtesy title.<ref name="BBC On This Day"/>Template:Refn Phillips has a younger sister, Zara Tindall (née Phillips; born 1981), and two younger half-sisters, Felicity Wade (née Tonkin; born 1985),<ref name="NZHerald">Template:Cite news</ref> the daughter of Mark Phillips and his former mistress Heather Tonkin; and Stephanie Phillips (born 1997), the daughter from his father's second marriage to Sandy Pflueger.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Phillips went to Port Regis Prep School in Shaftesbury, Dorset before following some of his family by attending Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland. Whilst at Gordonstoun, he was chosen to be head boy.<ref name="Hello Profile">Template:Cite news</ref> During his gap year, he went to Sydney, Australia and worked for Sports Entertainment Limited (SEL), a company to which he would later return; he also worked for Jackie Stewart's Formula One racing team during that time.<ref name="ek">Template:Cite book</ref> Phillips represented Scotland at rugby union at youth and junior level in the mid-1990s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He attended the University of Exeter and graduated with a degree in Sports Science.<ref name="BBC 2007">Template:Cite news</ref> He played for the Exeter University rugby league team.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Career

After his graduation in 2000, Phillips worked for Jaguar as corporate hospitality manager and then for Williams racing team, where he was sponsorship accounts manager.<ref name="Hello Profile"/><ref name="BBC 2007"/><ref name="Royal Jubbly">Template:Cite news</ref> He left Williams in September 2005, for a job as a manager at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh.<ref name="BBC 2007"/> In March 2012, he left RBS to take on a role as managing director at SEL UK.<ref name="Peter Phillips Linked in Profile">Template:Cite web</ref>

In August 2012, he was guest of honour at the Rugby league Challenge Cup Final between Warrington Wolves and Leeds Rhinos at Wembley.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

In the year leading up to June 2016, Phillips was responsible for organising the "Patron's Lunch", in celebration of the Queen's 90th birthday. It included a parade down The Mall and a hamper picnic for 10,000 guests.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In January 2020, Phillips appeared in an advertisement for Chinese company Bright Food. In the video, he uses his status as a "British royal family member" to promote the company's milk, while surrounded by luxury.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Royal funeral participation

On 17 September 2022, during the period of official mourning for Queen Elizabeth II, Phillips joined his sister and six cousins to mount a 15-minute vigil around the coffin of their grandmother as it lay in state at Westminster Hall.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 19 September 2022, he joined the Queen's children and other senior members of the royal family in walking behind the cortege in the state funeral procession.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

File:Princess Anne and Peter Phillips.jpg
Phillips with his mother in 2012

Relationships

Elizabeth Iorio and Tara Swain

Phillips dated Elizabeth Iorio, a cod liver oil heiress from the United States, for two years. In 2001 they lived together for eight months.<ref name="Telegraph 30 July"/> Later, he had a four-month relationship with Tara Swain, a flight attendant.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Autumn Kelly

In 2003, Phillips met Autumn Kelly, a Canadian management consultant, at the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.<ref name="Hello Profile"/> Their engagement was announced on 28 July 2007.<ref name="BBC 2007"/><ref name="Telegraph 30 July">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Refn

Kelly, who was raised in the Catholic Church, was received into the Church of England before her marriage. If she had been Roman Catholic at the time of the marriage, Phillips would have lost his place in the line of the succession to the throne because of since-repealed<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> terms of the Act of Settlement 1701.<ref name="Telegraph 3 August">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Telegraph 1 May">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Shortly before their wedding, the couple were interviewed and photographed by Hello! magazine, and were reported to have been paid £500,000, resulting in some concern in royal circles.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Tele Profile">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="BBC wedding">Template:Cite news</ref> They married on 17 May 2008 at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.<ref name="BBC wedding"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The service was conducted by David Conner, the Dean of Windsor.<ref name="Tele 17 8 May">Template:Cite news</ref> The couple lived in Hong Kong after Phillips changed positions within the Royal Bank of Scotland and became head of their sponsorships activities in the region.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Their first child, and the Queen's first great-grandchild, a daughter named Savannah Anne Kathleen, was born on 29 December 2010 at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.<ref name="royalweb">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="bbcnews">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=RoughGuideRoyals/> The Queen was present for the baby's baptism, which took place on 23 April 2011 at Church of the Holy Cross in Avening, Gloucestershire, near Gatcombe Park, the home of Phillips' mother. Savannah was born 12th in the line to the throne and is now 20th.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 29 March 2012, the couple's second daughter, Isla Elizabeth, was born at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. She was born 13th in the line to the throne and is now 21st.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 11 February 2020, Phillips and his wife confirmed that they had separated in 2019 and announced they were planning to divorce.<ref name="Separation">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The divorce was settled on 14 June 2021.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lindsay Wallace

After his divorce, Phillips began a relationship with Lindsay Wallace in 2021, with whom he made his official debut as a couple at the Epsom Derby in June 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The two ended their relationship in 2024.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Harriet Sperling

By June 2024, Phillips had introduced his partner, NHS paediatric nurse and freelance writer Harriet Sperling (née Sanders; born 1980), to King Charles III and Queen Camilla.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Their engagement was announced on 1 August 2025.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Sperling has a daughter from a previous relationship.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

According to the BBC, Sperling is a distant relation of Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester through her father Rupert Sanders (1946–2023). She is also related to the Courage family of brewers.<ref name="auto"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Honours

Arms

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References

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