We all love a royal wedding, and despite them coming along like buses a few years ago (three within a year), we have had a bit of a drought of late.
But next weekend, royal watchers can rejoice as the family's senior members regroup in celebration once again when the King's nephew Peter Phillips marries paediatric nurse Harriet Sperling.
Peter's big day on 6 June won't be on the same scale as previous royal weddings – only 150 guests will watch the happy couple say their vows in the pretty Cotswolds village of Kemble.
Nevertheless, the guest list is as regal as it gets. The King and Queen Camilla are expected to attend, as are Prince William and Catherine, and of course Peter's proud mother Princess Anne will be there too, as will his sister Zara Tindall, her husband Mike, and his cousins Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
It's certainly a right royal turnout, but perhaps even more interesting than who is on the guest list is who has been left off it – and what this says about the changing face of the royal family's inner circle.
Royal weddings of past
As I was writing about the upcoming nuptials over the past few days, I couldn't help but reflect on the most recent royal weddings in 2018 and 2019 – two of which I was at St George's Chapel in Windsor to witness.
Certainly, the highest profile of those events was when Prince Harry married Meghan Markle on 19 May 2018, with his brother Prince William at his side in church. The family turned out en masse, including Harry's grandparents Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, his uncle Andrew and Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, who was making her first major, high-profile appearance at a royal family event in years.
© WPA PoolFive months later, the royals were back in the historic chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle as Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank tied the knot, with her proud parents Andrew and Sarah taking centre stage. Among the hundreds of guests, who included celebrities like Demi Moore, Robbie Wiliams and Liv Tyler, were of course the bride's cousins William and Harry, who along with his new wife Meghan, was close to Eugenie and Jack.
© GettyThe following May, I was back at St George's Chapel for the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Tom Kingston and watched as an animated Prince Harry walked down the hill from the castle, alongside his aunt Princess Anne and uncle Prince Edward.
After the ceremony, Harry joined the rest of the family – including the late Queen and Philip, as well as Andrew and Fergie – at the Galilee Porch, and I was struck by how much this looked like an ordinary family wedding as the group mingled, chatted and laughed together.
© Getty ImagesA shift in the royal family's inner circle
But how things have changed since then. Next weekend, there will be no Harry or Meghan after Harry's spectacular fallout with those who were once so near and dear to him. A friend of Peter's recently told HELLO! that the groom had lost touch with his cousin and confirmed he hadn't been invited.
That seems particularly sad since Peter, Wiliam and Harry grew up together, sharing family holidays at Balmoral and Sandringham, where they "caused quite a bit of mayhem and chaos", according to Peter. The cousins remained close into adulthood, with Peter and Harry attending polo matches and the 2012 Olympics in London together, but it seems that by distancing himself from his brother and father, Harry has also cut himself off from his cousins too.
Meanwhile, the late Queen and Prince Philip, once the glue that held everything together, are no longer with us, having died in 2022 and 2021 respectively.
© GettyAnd then there is Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, exiled to a cottage on the Sandringham estate having been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office over his links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Sarah Ferguson, no longer welcome at royal events, is still keeping a low profile, her whereabouts unknown.
But, despite being diminished in number, the royal family's new-look, inner circle is steely to its core, strengthened by the knocks it has taken in recent years and very much united as they look forward to having something to celebrate at last.
