British Royal Wedding

While the ‘are they’ ‘aren’t they’ riddle has been solved and Prince William looks to be firmly back with Kate Middleton, bookies are hoping that they aren’t as reconciled as they appear as one punter stands to win £25,000 if they return from their Seychelles holiday as man and wife.

Speculation has mounted recently that the prince will propose to his girlfriend after reports emerged that the couple had staged their break-up and in fact were still very much a couple. In recent weeks the pair have been spotted at the Live Earth concert and Middleton was a guest in the royal box at the Princess Diana tribute concert.

Bookies William Hill are hoping that the romance of the Seychelles will not result in a beach wedding as it would cost them £25,000 as one punter put £100 on the market when it was put on to the firm’s website recently.

“We have not had any sleepless nights on this one, but we understand that the hotel they are staying at does cater for weddings. If their next holiday is in Las Vegas or Gretna it will be no more bets on this one!” said Hill’s spokesman Rupert Adams.

If the mystery punter from central London misses out this time there is still time for him to profit from the future royal couple as the firm offer 100/1 that they will get married in the next two weeks or 1000/1 that William will get an ‘I love Kate’ tattoo on his arm. (via Bettingchoice)

William Hill Royal Wagers:

• Evens - Kate & William get engaged in next five years
• 2/1 - Get engaged in 2008
• 5/1 - Get engaged in 2007
• 25/1 - Return from Holiday with a ring on finger
• 100/1 - Get married in the next two weeks
• 1000/1 - William to get ‘I Love Kate’ tattooed on his arm

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!

With media interest still high over the split between Prince William and Kate Middleton focus is beginning to shift to who may be next likely to marry within the royal family. The hot tip is Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall, her rugby player boyfriend.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Phillips said gloomily “It usually switches between the two of us, when they get bored with talking about when Kate and William will get married then usually it’s our turn.”

Zara, daughter of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, also grand daughter to the Queen, met Tindall during the Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2003. Tindall (who is currently out with a broken leg) plays Rugby for Gloucester and represents England at the highest level of the sport.

The couple, who currently live at her mother’s estate Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire, have no plans to marry.

“Are we getting married?” she asks. “No. Not yet. I haven’t been asked. And I’m not going to be announcing it in August or whatever it was everyone was saying a few weeks ago. Every time something goes in the papers, I get texts from all my friends asking ‘Are you?’ and I’m like, ‘Sorry, no!’”

Zara is currently training for the Badminton horse trials held next month, where many of the riders are hoping to secure their places for the 2008 Beijing Olympic team. After winning European and world equestrian event titles last year, Zara was crowned BBC sports personality of the year. Later this year she will also be receiving an MBE for her sporting achievements from the Queen - Thanks Gran!

“The press actually have something to write about now,” Zara says. “Before I did feel pressurised by it. It all started in my gap year and the thing is you’re supposed to play this role, you’re from this family. It’s weird. If you are just behaving normally that is seen as wrong, or not behaving as you should do.

“Winning the sports personality of the year award was great because the public voted for me. I never expected to win, it was a huge shock. I have a lot more people who come up to me now and say ‘Well done’, ‘We’re really proud of you’, things like that.”

In early April readers of Hello magazine voted 75% in favour of Zara and Mike marrying before Prince William and Kate Middleton. However there was no mention of Zara’s brother, Peter Phillips, who many believe will beat everyone to the altar with his long-term girlfriend, Autumn Kelly.

Zara Phillips and her boyfriend, Mike Tindall, have been decisively voted as the royal couple most likely to walk up the aisle next.

In a poll of 5000 readers by Hellomagazine.com, 75% of respondants said they believed that Zara and Mike will marry next, not Prince William and Kate Middleton.

There was no mention, however, of Zara’s brother, Peter Phillips, who many believe will beat everyone to the altar with his long-term girlfriend, Autumn Kelly.

In any case, there may be a bit of wait for the next royal nuptials, with Zara previously stating that she will not marry until after the 2008 Olympics, and William’s insistence that he will not be marrying before his 28th birthday.

Worlds away from Bournemouth and Westend nightclubs, Princess Anne’s son, Peter Phillips and his girlfriend of four years, Autumn Kelly, have been spotted supporting Zara Phillips at the recent Gatcombe Horse Trials held on the Gloucestershire estate of Princess Anne. Zara’s boyfriend, Mike Tindall, was also there to watch her compete.

29-year-old Peter, and 31-year-old Autumn live together in a cottage on the Gatcombe Estate, not far from where his sister, Zara, lives with Mike. Many suspect that Peter may beat his cousin, and sister, to the altar, especially as Autumn appears to have been readily accepted into the Royal fold, most recently attending private birthday celebrations for the Queen at the Ritz Hotel.

More photos of Zara, Princess Anne, Peter and Autumn at the horse trials can be viewed here.

Zara Phillips and her boyfriend, Mike Tindall, sent the punters into a spin at the Cheltenham Festival earlier this week.

The couple appeared very much in love as they strolled hand-in-hand around the Cheltenham race track, which apparently prompted the punters to place a flood of bets on them marrying in the future.

The bookies reportedly took almost as much money on Zara and Mike marrying as they did on the track action, causing the odds on the couple’s future to be slashed in half.

Despite rumours of a secret engagement, Zara has been reported as saying that, although she would like to get married, she has no intention of doing so anytime soon.

A flurry of betting over the last 24 hours that Prince William will get engaged to girlfriend, Kate Middleton, has prompted bookmaker, William Hill, to stop taking bets on a royal engagement.

The bookmakers reportedly took over 100 bets in the last day, following the reignition of rumours that an engagement was imminent, the largest of which was £5000.

A spokesperson for William Hill said “the Royal Engagement seems to be question of when, not if, and we were giving away money by continuing to accept bets. When they do get engaged, it will cost us a princely sum”.

For those of you still wishing to take a punt, the bookmakers are still offering odds on which year the Royal Wedding will take place, with 2008 offering 5/4, and this year at 10/1.