Skip to main contentSkip to footer

Peter and Autumn Phillips split: a look back at their wedding day

Take a look back at Peter and Autumn's royal wedding

featured_5_3
Share this:
gallery_1_1

According to reports, Peter Phillips is to split from his wife of 12 years, Autumn Philips. According to The Sun newspaper, Autumn, 41, has told Princess Anne’s son that she wants to separate.

Peter Phillips became the first of Queen Elizabeth's grandchildren to wed when he married Canadian management consultant Autumn Kelly on May 17, 2008. The royal wedding, attended by the royal family and held at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, was covered exclusively by HELLO! magazine in a spectacular 100-page special. What's as fabulous as a royal wedding? In the wake of the sad news that the pair have parted ways, we have taken a look back at the highlights of happier times...

READ: The Queen’s upset as Peter Phillips and wife Autumn Phillips separate – report

It was a case of love at first sight when Peter met Autumn at the 2003 Montreal Grand Prix. But the strawberry blonde didn't know her new love interest was royalty! It was about six weeks before Autumn found out that her new love was Princess Anne’s son and Queen Elizabeth's grandson (and, at the time, 11th in line to the throne).

gallery_5_3

Three hundred guests – including Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh – attended the nuptials at St George's Church, with around 70 members of Autumn’s family jetting in from her home country of Canada. In line with tradition, the bride and groom had spent the night before their wedding apart. Autumn slept at Windsor Castle while her future husband stayed with his uncle Prince Edward. Photo: Getty Images

gallery_5_3

Autumn's wedding dress, consisting of a fitted bodice made of hand-beaded lace, a silk duchesse skirt and beaded French lace shrug, was created by British designer Sassi Holford. “Doing such a gown does kind of encompass all the emotions the bride feels on her day – I was excited, then terribly nervous, then full of joy," the designer told HELLO!. Photo: Getty Images

gallery_5_3

"I was frightened of walking down the aisle. But when I got to the top of the stairs and saw how many of our friends and family had turned out to support us, I stopped being scared and actually enjoyed it,” Autumn told HELLO! at the time. Despite any nerves, the bride looked picture perfect in a tiara borrowed from her new mother-in-law Princess Anne and a pearl and diamond necklace that Peter had sent to her at Windsor Castle the night before the wedding. Photo: Getty Images

gallery_1_1

Just like the down-to-earth bride and groom, the wedding was filled with joy and laughter. Here the British royals are seen on the steps of St George's Chapel. Clockwise from bottom left: Queen Elizabeth, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Zara Phillips' now-husband Mike Tindall, Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice and Prince Philip. Photo: SHAUN CURRY/AFP/Getty Images

gallery_3_5

“Obviously I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” the groom's sister Zara Phillips, seen here with her grandmother the Queen, told HELLO!. The Olympic equestrian served as bridesmaid, wearing a pistachio green dress by Vera Wang. Photo: Getty Images

gallery_3_5

Prince Harry gave his grandmother Queen Elizabeth, who was as elegant as always in a brocade coat and matching dress, a kiss on the cheek. While Harry's brother Prince William did not attend the ceremony, as he was away at a friend's wedding in Kenya, Harry brought his then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy as his date and William's then-girlfriend Kate Middleton attended as well. Photo: Getty Images

gallery_3_5

Autumn’s friends Jacqueline Aubie and Susannah Toynbee also served as bridesmaids, wearing strapless Vera Wang. Stephanie Phillips, Peter’s 11-year-old half- sister and Jessica Kelly, Autumn’s half-sister, also 11, were flowergirls. The ladies in the wedding party carried small bouquets that complemented the bride's cascade of white roses, spray roses, lily of the valley and stephanotis. Photo: Getty Images

gallery_3_5

The groom's uncle Prince Andrew is seen here with his daughters, Princess Eugenie, center, and Princess Beatrice as they left the religious vows. During the ceremony Princess Eugenie read Shakespeare’s sonnet 116, conveying that love "looks on tempests and is never shaken". Photo: Getty Images

gallery_5_3

Proud parents: Autumn's dad Brian Kelly and his wife Lynne shared a laugh with Peter's mom Princess Anne and her husband Timothy Laurence outside the church. By lending Autumn her tiara, Princess Anne had provided the "something old and borrowed", the bride told HELLO!. "Something blue was stitched into the dress, which of course was new, like the perfect necklace and matching earrings Pete gave me." Photo: Anwar Hussein/WireImage

gallery_3_5

Both fans of a good laugh, royal cousins Harry and Zara seemed to be having a great time at the anything-but-stuffy royal wedding. Of course, Zara herself would be a royal bride in July 2011 when she married rugby player Mike Tindall. Meanwhile, Harry is still unwed – although it looks like he might be the star of the next royal wedding with current love Meghan Markle. Photo: Getty Images

gallery_1_1

Royal weddings are the place to check out the best royal style. Princess Beatrice never fails to impress with her millinery – and her cousin's wedding was the perfect moment to show off this incredible multi-colored butterfly hat by Philip Treacy. Photo: Getty Images

gallery_5_3

The newlyweds rode to their reception at nearby Frogmore House in a Balmoral Sociable open carriage pulled by two Windsor Greys. Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh offered the use of Frogmore House, a 17th century country estate once called 'little paradise' by Queen Charlotte, to their grandson for his big day. Photo: Getty Images

gallery_5_3

After the wedding at St George’s Chapel – which had been the setting for Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones' nuptials, as well as Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles' wedding blessing – family gathered for the official portrait at Frogmore House. Seated left to right front row: The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II, Ivy Kelly and Edith McCarthy; standing, left to right: the groom's parents, Captain Mark Phillips and The Princess Royal, the newlyweds, and the bride's mom and dad Kitty Kelly and Brian Kelly. Photo: Sir Geoffrey Shakerley/AFP/Getty Images

gallery_1_1

"The whole thing was just fantastic from beginning to end," said Peter of his wonderful wedding day. "I wouldn't have changed a single thing. It's just one big happy memory." Today the happily married pair are a family of four. The couple welcomed daughter Savannah, the Queen's first great-grandchild, in 2010, and another daughter, Isla, in 2012.

More Royalty

See more