Harriet Sperling, the NHS paediatric nurse who recently got engaged to Princess Anne's son, Peter Phillips, has very quickly caught the attention of royal watchers and fans across the globe, since she began dating the brother of Zara Tindall last year. Currently, it is believed that the pair still live on the estate belonging to the Princess Royal, the beautiful Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire, though they may be looking for a new home as they look towards marriage. But where did the 45-year-old grow up?
According to a report in The Telegraph, Harriet grew up in the village of South Cerney in Gloucestershire, which is just south of Cirencester. As a devout Christian, like her parents, Rupert Sanders and Mary Hoskins, she spent a lot of time in their local church, All Hallows, growing up. In fact, her late father was a long-standing churchwarden, and her mother serves in the ministry team, the publication reports.
We know very little about Harriet's childhood home, other than that it is a six-bedroom Edwardian home with an estimated value of £1.5 million. It seems a wonderful full circle moment for the nurse returning to Gloucestershire, if she and Peter are living on the Gatcombe Park estate!
Where Harriet and Peter are reportedly living
Unfortunately, not much is known about the specific accommodation for Peter on Gatcombe Estate, but we do know that he used to live there with his ex-wife, Autumn, and their two daughters, Savannah, 14, and Isla, 12, before the couple split back in 2019. It is also believed that Autumn and the kids live nearby, so as to make the co-parenting process a lot smoother for everyone.
As well as the Princess Royal, Zara Tindall also lives on the estate, with her husband Mike and their three children, on a beautiful Grade-II listed farmhouse called Aston Farm, where they have lived since 2013. The newlyweds turned the house into their forever home when they moved in, giving it a complete transformation and "high tech revamp", according to Daily Mail.
Rachel Avery, HELLO!'s Homes Editor, adds: "Peter’s fiancée Harriet will be used to Gloucestershire as she grew up around 20 minutes away from Gatcombe Park. The Cotswolds is renowned for its picturesque beauty, and while her childhood home may not have been quite as grand as Princess Anne’s manor, she will be familiar with the country lifestyle. The NHS worker has often commuted from the countryside into London for her role as a nurse, but the West Country is where she calls home."