British Royal Wedding

The Canadian-born fiancee of Peter Phillips has not just won the heart of Princess Anne’s son, she has also endeared herself to the Queen and Prince Philip with a down-to-earth and mature approach to her impending royal life…

In the official photograph taken at a Clarence House dinner to mark the Queen’s 60th wedding anniversary, there was one rather less familiar face among the generations of the monarch’s family gathered around her.

The tall, fresh-faced blonde was there again at the service of celebration the following day at Westminster Abbey. But while not many people may know that the woman is question is Autumn Kelly, that will soon change when she becomes the next royal bride.

Canadian-born Autumn is the fiancée of Peter Phillips, 29-year-old son of the Princess Royal from her first marriage to Captain Mark Phillips, and she has already made a good impression on the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who have welcomed her into the royal fold.

That might have something to do with the ease and maturity that Autumn has displayed in dealing with the royal spotlight and its attendant circus. And perhaps also because she and Peter are determined to remain a low-profile couple – which has not always been the case with young royals and their partners.

Prince Harry was dubbed the “official Royal gooseberry” in front of family and friends – by his brother William.

Lovelorn Harry, who is trying to win back girlfriend Chelsy Davy, was the only one without a partner at a birthday bash for his cousin Peter Phillips.

Wills, 25, was joined by Kate Middleton, Peter by fiancée Autumn Kelly, Zara Phillips by rugby hunk Mike Tindall, and Princess Beatrice by Virgin hotshot Dave Clark. But Harry, 23, couldn’t persuade Zimbabwean Chelsy to attend the party on Saturday.

A source said: “Halfway through the evening William turned to Harry and said, ‘You’re now the official Royal gooseberry. The whole group fell about laughing, except Harry who gave his brother a dirty look before smiling.”
After the meal at trendy Cocoon restaurant in Regent Street, London, most of the Royals went to the posh Volstead club in Mayfair, while Beatrice and Dave joined a host of stars at actress Davinia Taylor’s birthday bash.

A witness said: “They looked happy. Everyone was with their partner, except Harry.”

Chelsy, 22, who is studying at Leeds University, had been in London since Thursday. She is still miffed at Harry for spending her birthday watching rugby. The source said: “Harry’s not out of the woods yet.” (via The Sun)

Prince William is set to be best man at the wedding of an Edinburgh-based member of the royal family.

Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips, 29, is to marry his Canadian fiancee, Autumn Kelly, 31, at Windsor Castle next May.

Peter, who is tenth in line to the throne, works as a sponsorship manager at the Royal Bank of Scotland in the Capital. He met the management consultant four years ago at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The couple split their time between the Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire and a home in Edinburgh.

William and his brother Harry have always been close to their older cousin, which would provide the prince with plenty of ammunition for his best man’s speech.

Peter was the first royal baby to be born a commoner in 500 years, after Anne and her then-husband Captain Mark Phillips asked that he be not given a title. (via The Scotsman)

As tenth in line to the throne, he has little chance of leap-frogging Prince William to become King. Nonetheless, Peter Phillips has immense sympathy for his cousin and his girlfriend Kate Middleton.

And, in a rare intervention, Princess Anne’s personable son has spoken about the media frenzy surrounding William’s courtship of former airline pilot’s daughter, Kate.

Peter, 30 next month, announced his engagement to Canadian businesswoman Autumn Kelly in July and tells me: “Autumn and I have not had to endure the pressure William and Kate put up with, what with photographers dogging their every step.

“We have been left alone and (rapping his knuckles on a mahogany bookcase) touch wood, I hope it stays that way.”

Peter, sponsorship manager for the Royal Bank of Scotland, was speaking at the launch of Sir Jackie Stewart’s autobiography Winning Is Not Enough at Henry Sotheran’s bookshop in Mayfair.

Confirming he will marry in Britain “probably” next year, he joked that six weeks before their marriage announcement, a rumour went round that he and Autumn, 31, were already engaged. “My father thought we’d announced it without telling him. I told him we hadn’t. We weren’t quite ready.” (via Daily Mail)

Prince Harry Dumps Chelsy for Pals – The Daily Record
PRINCE Harry set tongues wagging yesterday after a booze-up with pals at a singles night. His girlfriend Chelsy Davy, 21, was left at home as the 22-year-old prince and his Army buddies painted the town red. Harry and 12 pals drank in a pub before heading to a club and an event known locally as “Snog and Dog” night. Onlookers told how women swooned over Harry – but he kept his hands to himself. One source said: “There were literally hundreds of women trying to get to the group and speak to the prince…

Buzz surrounds royal’s Montreal fiancée – The Gazette
“People are talking about it and are happy for her,” said Sam Pergantis, the former general manager at the recently closed Cheers bar in Pointe Claire where Kelly worked as a bartender for a few years starting in the late 1990s. “She doesn’t have a bad bone in her body that girl. She’s always been pleasant,” Pergantis said. Former teachers also spoke fondly of her. “Autumn Kelly first of all the name you remembered,” said Lana Broniszewski who taught her English in Grade 11 at St. Thomas High School. Broniszewski said she wasn’t surprised she was dating Phillips. “She was the type of girl that you could see not being afraid to be out there. She wouldn’t have been intimidated to say hello.”

Diana’s Dress Designer jumps to Zara’s defence – Western Mail
Zara Phillips’ sense of style makes her a natural successor to Princess Diana, one of Wales’ leading designers claims in a new biography. The daughter of the Princess Royal was criticised last week by fashion watchers, who said the outfit she wore to Goodwood made her look like a chav. Phillips, the 11th in line to the throne, felt the wrath of style gurus for wearing a large pair of gold hoop earrings, chunky black wedge-heeled shoes and white linen shorts to Goodwood, rather than more formal attire.

Right Man, Wrong Time – Daily Mail
When Prince William split up with Kate Middleton, everybody drew their own conclusions about whether the split was final and what went wrong: the rigours of William’s army training had driven the couple apart; being only 25, the prince was simply not ready to settle yet; some even blamed Kate’s mother for failing to greet the Queen appropriately. Although there may be an element of truth in all these theories, they miss one important point: love has its own natural rhythm…

Couple’s Dodgy Strategy – Chicago Sun Times
Could Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal have taken a page from Prince William and Kate Middleton? A source close to the actress says the supposed ”breakup” of the two stars – after an initial fling earlier this year – really was more about getting the press off their backs. Witherspoon reportedly was intrigued by the story about the British royal and his longtime girlfriend not really going their separate ways – just making it look like it.

..and from deep in the archives – taking you back to 2005 and first news of Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly’s blossoming relationship…

Royal Beau for Local Beauty – The Vancouver Sun
Until meeting Phillips, Kelly, a 5-foot-4 strawberry blond, had a fairly typical West Island childhood. She played soccer and ringette as a girl, modelled as a teenager and attended public schools on the West Island: St. John Fisher and St. Thomas High School. She tended bar at Savannah’s, a local bar/restaurant as she studied at McGill University. …reports in London’s racier tabloids quoting unidentified sources saying that Phillips could never marry Kelly because she does not come from “the best sort of background.”…

Princess Anne’s future daughter-in-law, Autumn Kelly, has been showing off her dazzling engagement ring after getting engaged last week.

Dressed casually a black top and camouflage trousers, Autumn looked relaxed and happy as she posed for the cameras.

Her engagement to Peter Phillips, the Princess Royal’s son, was announced last week but it was the first time the striking piece of jewellery had been on public view.

It has emerged that Peter may be disqualified from succeeding to the throne because his fiancee is a Roman Catholic.

Peter Phillips, 29, is tenth in line to the throne and the Queen’s eldest grandson. (via Daily Mail)

If he marries his Canadian Catholic fiancee, Queen Elizabeth II’s grandson Peter Phillips may be disqualified from succession to the British Crown by a law which bars the monarch and heirs to the throne from marrying a Catholic.

The Times Online reports that Mr Phillips, who is the son of the Princess Royal and her first husband Captain Mark Philips, is tenth in line to the throne but his marriage could cost him his birthright because his fiancee, Autumn Kelly, is a Catholic.

The paper quotes The Tablet as revealing that Miss Kelly, the daughter of Brian and Kathleen “Kitty” Kelly, was baptised on 18 June 1978 at St John Fisher Parish church in Pointe-Claire, a suburb of Montreal in Quebec.

Although it is not clear whether she is still a practising Catholic, unless she agrees to renounce her religion the union will fall foul of the 1701 Act of Settlement, which bars the monarch or heirs to the throne from marrying a Catholic.

Read the rest of this entry »

If it’s true that Peter Phillips once said his romance couldn’t go anywhere because he was expected to find a girl from a “good solid British family”, the announcement of his engagement to Autumn Kelly is a triumph of sense over sensibility.

Maybe, poor boy, he genuinely once believed that Canada wasn’t a suitable breeding ground for the mate of the Queen’s grandson and that “the right background” was still a box-ticking essential for the 10th in line to the throne. More likely, he was trying to put gossip mongers off the scent and give himself a bit of space.

And, seeing what has happened in royal marriages when the social and class expectations are fulfilled, it is a great bonus that Miss Kelly is just a bright, outdoorsy, feet-on-the-ground girl from Montreal who, rather inconveniently from her point of view, fell in love with a man on the wrong continent.

She works for a management consultancy company and looks after their client, the broadcaster Michael Parkinson. Yesterday her breezy, friendly voice could be heard on her office voicemail. But it was a pre-engagement recording.

When she answered her own mobile phone, as a good personal assistant should, her voice dropped several tones at the horror of having to comment on her engagement or her job. “I’m afraid I really can’t say anything about that,” she said.

It was left to a Canadian friend, one of her mother’s generation, to rhapsodise:

“They were made for each other. This is a marriage made in heaven. She’s just the nicest person you could ever meet and they’re devoted to one another.”

This year, their final seal of approval, the couple were both guests of the Queen at Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot. More enthusiasm was registered by the Monarchist League of Canada. “It’s exciting, a Canadian girl marrying into the Royal Family,” said the head, Robert Finch, raising the feverish possibility of a wedding in Montreal.

“I would expect it to be a low-profile wedding as far as royal weddings go,” he added. From what we know of them, that would suit the couple just fine. (via The Telegraph)

Read the entire article here…

Princess Anne’s son, Peter Phillips, is to become the first of the Queen’s grandchildren to marry, it was announced by Buckingham Palace last night.

“The Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips are pleased to announce the engagement of their son Peter Phillips to Autumn, daughter of Mr. Brian and Mrs. Kitty Kelly,” the palace said.

Phillips, 29, has become engaged to his girlfriend, 31-year-old Autumn Kelly, a former management consultant from Canada.

The couple met at the Canadian Grand Prix in her native Montreal in 2003, and Kelly soon moved to Britain to be closer to the royal.

Despite being quoted as saying he would marry a British woman, royal watchers predicted Phillips would tie the knot before his sister, Zara, and cousins, Princes William and Harry. (via The Observer)

Regular readers of this website may remember our first poll which asked – Which royal couple will get engaged first?… The result – “Peter Phillips & Autumn Kelly” with 31% of the vote. What a knowledegable lot you all are!