Royal Wedding Exclusive: Will Harry & Meghan make Peter Phillips’ big day?

0:02The Telegraph.

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1:16Welcome to The Royal Tea, a quick cuppa, a brand new podcast serving up the very best royal insight from the experts in the know. That's us. Me, Camilla Tomini. And me, Hannah Fennesse, the Telegraph's Royal Editor. Well, it's the Royal Wedding of the Year this weekend, probably because it's the only Royal Wedding this year. So ahead of Princess Anne's son, Peter Phillips's second wedding, we'll be telling you everything there is to know about the nuptials, plus whether we might see an appearance from our dear friends in Montecito.

1:55Hannah, there's a royal wedding in the air. A real royal wedding. It's exciting, isn't it? Have you got your fascinating wedding? I haven't. Maybe my union flagged away on the streets. And for the uninitiated, who's getting married? It's Peter Phillips. Brackets. Again. Is this allowed? Can we have second weddings in royal circles? Yeah, we can. Yes, because the king did one. Technically, it's a private one. Well, what does that mean? Can you hang around outside like a bad smell and start trying to get... Me personally, yes. OK, so who's getting married? Where are they getting married? When are they getting married?

2:25Peter Phillips is getting married to Harriet Spurling, his girlfriend of a few years. Love that. Paediatric NHS nurse, as close to sainthood as we get in Britain. Wonderful. Has fitted in beautifully with the royal family, has been allowed to get married for the second time. In All Saints Church in Kemble, which is near to Gatcombe, where Princess Anne lives, near to the village where Harriet grew up, and importantly, by Highgrave, which means that the king can go. The king's going. OK, so we've got the king, we've got Queen Camilla, we've definitely got the Waleses, I think probably with children.

2:55They never confirm the children, but the children will be there. It's a family wedding. And also, so Peter Phillips is like the eldest cousin, the kind of the eldest statesman of the Wales cousin crew, or the Mountbatten-Windsor crew, I should say. So that's Princess Anne's son. So William's really close to him. He's really close to Zara. So is Catherine. So the Tindals, so Zara's married to Mike Tindall, the former rugby player. They'll have their very sweet little kids there. This could be quite nice photographically, couldn't it? I think it's going to be one of those moments where we see the wider royal family, not the working royal family, but all the kids and all the cousins just having a really nice day out.

3:33And that's one of our favourite things to see, isn't it? It is. Because they'll mess around. Can we please have Princess Charlotte in a bridesmaid dress or something? Yes, although you've got Savannah and Isla, surely they've got to be bridesmaids. Georgina, who is Harriet's daughter. Right, Savannah and Isla being the groom's children with his first wife, Autumn Kelly. So they're going to be there, they'll be bridesmaids. And then the bride's got a daughter. Georgina, who's a teenager. All three girls are quite similar ages, they're young teens now. So just right to be bridesmaids. And then Zara and Mike have got two girls and a son.

4:08Mia, Lena and Luca, yes. Lovely, they could be donning their glad rags. Surely they'll have something to do. Love that. OK, so we know who we think is going. Actually, on that note, Beatrice and Eugenie? Yes, although Eugenie will be very pregnant by then, so it depends a little bit on circumstances, but they are invited. Are there parents? No. Oh, why? Well, optics. Can't find Fergie. She's somewhere in the Alps. You'd have to find Fergie. You'll have to check with the police about whether Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is allowed to go that far. No, it's just, it's optics, isn't it? It's a very difficult time.

4:44If you've got your Andrew and your Fergie there, it's all anybody's going to be talking about. This is a nice wedding for as far as we know, nice people. And they just want to get on with their day. I love the idea that if you inject Andy and Fergie into the scene, that it becomes something less than nice. It's just a circus, isn't it? Well, that's true. And crucially, Harry and Meghan. The other cousin, Prince Harry, who at one point, if you remember, Peter Phillips was supposed to be this peacemaker between William and Harry. He walked between them at Prince Phillips' funeral. He's supposed to be close to both of them.

5:14But no, we do not think that Harry and Meghan will be coming. But do you think they were invited? I don't believe so. Really? Gosh, that's harsh, isn't it? Well, I mean, let's get Peter on to ask. Peter, can you come on and tell us what's gone on here? Harry's the only cousin to not be asked to come because I assume as well the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, so that's Edward and Sophie and their children, James and Louise, they'll be going. I think so. So Harry's the only cousin who might not be at this gig. There may have been some discussions behind the scenes where they decided whether it was a good idea or not.

5:51Harry, we know, isn't keen on coming to Britain until his security case has been resolved. Oh, yes. He can't come with wife and family because they're in danger. And again, although it's for totally different reasons, obviously, than Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, it's another talking point and it's another distraction for a wedding day. I wonder if they'll record a little message from Montecito. A cameo. And it would be played on a big screen. Maybe. They could send some flowers. Beam me up, Megan. They could send some jam. They could send some jam. As ever. OK, so they're not on the guest list. So talk me through how Peter and Harriet got together.

6:34So she's a paediatric nurse, but I'd assume she's a little bit horsey because I've been to Minchin Hampton. I've been to the Gatcom Estate on many occasions, darling. Have you? Tell us more. Well, I used to do quite a lot of coverage of Zara's eventing career and I went with her to the European Championships when she was riding a horse called Toy Town, which she nicknamed Noddy, saw her win it in Arken in Germany. I've been down there, you know, hanging out with grooms and just people with hay in different places, the type of people that think nothing of giving a polo to a horse. I'm quite scared of horses, so I obviously kept well back with my notebook.

7:09So I've been ingratiated in the past into that scene, and it's very tight-knit. You've got Princess Anne in the main house. For a period, her first husband, Mark Phillips, used to live on the estate but doesn't anymore. Zara and Mike had been living in Cheltenham but then moved back to the estate. Peter and Autumn had been living there, but obviously they divorced, but I think Autumn's still in the nearby area. And just that whole Gloucestershire horsey scene is a very warm and convivial and friendly environment where everyone knows each other and everyone knows how to ride. And it's tight-knit.

7:42Yes. And I imagine it's quite difficult to crack, but once you're in, you're in. I don't know how I got in. I was in briefly and then I was out because I moved on to other stories. And you're not marrying Peter Phillips, critically. No, I didn't marry anyone that necessarily sort of, what did Princess Philip once say about Princess Anne? If it doesn't fart or eat hay, then she's not interested. But I did get a glimpse of that whole world and it's a lovely world and I think the nature of how Princess Anne has set up her own family to all be close by and the fact that she remains a very doting mother but also a doting grandmother to all of her grandchildren who remain around her is very, very sweet.

8:19and in fact when we had what would it have been her 70th birthday that documentary she was speaking very lovingly about her grandchildren wasn't she and you can imagine that for all of princess anne's image as someone quite steely and slightly scary that i i would imagine she is thoroughly good fun yeah and very practical you can imagine her picking up a toddler grandchild and just plonking them on the back of a horse can't you and letting them go that free reign childhood so peter met Harriet after he'd broken up with Autumn? A sporting event, something to do with the children. Yes. It all moved quite quickly and importantly and quite oddly in the royal family, she was welcomed to royal events almost immediately within the year, I think, 2025.

9:04We've seen her at Ascot. We've seen her at church in Sandringham, not on Christmas Day, but during the period where they're all staying there. Been to Wimbledon, I think. She was at Windsor in Easter just a few weeks ago. So they have welcomed her with totally open arms. And if you think back just a couple of years, unless you were married, you didn't really go to those family occasions. I wonder if the Princess of Wales is feeling a bit put out because she was left on ice for years and years and years. We can't have her at anything because they're not official. And now look how standards have changed.

9:35I mean, I'm all for it because at the end of the day, they're a blended family, aren't they? The Windsors really, you know... From the top down now. From the top down. So fair enough. Do we think that Princess Anne is a formidable mother-in-law?

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11:03I think she'd be great for the first time. I know. You'd have to bring your polos, wouldn't you, and talk about horses. You would. Probably quite welcoming. and I think she's still in contact with Autumn, her former daughter-in-law, because of the children. Hasn't Autumn gone off and married a multimillion mare or something? Oh, good for her. Yes, well done. If you think about Mike Tindall and their relationship, Mike Tindall's probably the least likely person to marry into the royal family, really, on paper, but he is the star of the show. Princess Anne seems to love him. They get on famously.

11:35They did a podcast together. Yeah, that was one thing I remember from the whole Gatkin scene when he was on the scene and it was extremely family orientated to the extent that he brought his parents along and it was just really, really lovely. Everybody really getting on well with each other. So are we expecting them to adhere to any royal traditions? You know, typically a royal bride will have a wedding ring from some Welsh mine and they'll have a sprig of myrtle in their bouquet and they'll be wearing one of the late Queen's tiaras. I wouldn't have thought so. So when you're thinking about this as a royal wedding, we're not thinking carriages, we're not thinking balcony, We're not really thinking some big public kiss afterwards.

12:11We're just thinking of the royal family, the wider royal family assembling for a day out in what is a family wedding. The closest comparison is probably Pippa Middleton's. Yes. It felt like a royal wedding because the Wales children were there or the Cambridges as they were then. But this isn't a sort of official, significant, constitutional moment for the nation. But they've got to be careful from a newspaper editor point of view because I remember covering Pippa Middleton's wedding and the photograph of the bride and groom was released that day because it was a Saturday and I was on the Sunday Express so we always got the best run of weddings ever because they would always happen in our time.

12:51And then the editor, the late Martin Townsend, who passed away last year, much preferred all of the imagery of Kate as she was then known, now Catherine. And so we used on the front page a picture of her going, shh to the bridesmaids because she was obviously maid of honour at the time or must have been matron of honour because she was herself married sort of arranging things and it felt a bit cruel because the bride and groom photo was relegated but this is the danger I guess if you're going to be inviting very high profile royals that are eminently photographable. I think you price that and I think they will have to price it in Harriet's Burling is beautiful and her wedding dress will be gorgeous i'm sure they'll put a lot of thought into it their photos will be wonderful but as royal watchers the world watching will be looking for those moments between the children the older cousins shushing the younger cousins keeping them in line that's sort of the fun of the day isn't it absolutely should we talk about before we uh finish our cuppa um famous fails and mishaps in former royal weddings i actually didn't realize this i don't think i've ever seen this before.

13:57Yeah, so the late Queen Elizabeth II, when she married Prince Philip in 1947, just two hours before her wedding, the then Princess Elizabeth's something borrowed, which as you do in the royals, was Queen Mary's fringed tiara, which was probably worth millions of quid, snapped in half. A court jeweller had to be rushed via police escort to the house of Garrard to frantically weld it back together just in time. Wonderful. That's what you get when you're a future queen, isn't it? Did you know about the Princess Diana spilled perfume? No. And so she covered it up by holding her dress. So apparently she had that massive kind of taffeta, very 1980s Emmanuel creation on, and she started dabbing herself in perfume.

14:44And the next thing, she spilled half the bottle down the front, and her make-up artist told her to hold that spot on her dress when she walked to cover the stain. So that's why she kept on hitching that dress up. Although the train was so long, she probably had to anyway to avoid falling down the stairs. And it worked because we don't remember it. I do remember Prince William and Kate Middleton's stuck ring. So I covered that royal wedding in 2011 from the mall. I was with the Americans, darling. I had a hell of a lot of hairspray on. I bet. I was with NBC, baby. Okay. It was huge. I think our coverage of that wedding was literally watched by 60 million people as I was trying to give my unique brand of royal expertise.

15:24And they got a bit nervous, didn't they? Because William spoke quite confidently and then Kate was so, she was so quiet. I mean, you would be. And then they had a problem with the ring. They couldn't get rings off and rings on and all the rest of it. But for this wedding, there are going to be no cameras inside the church. So we'll see people coming and going, but we're not going to see that moment of walking down the aisle, doing the rings. It's not going to be the royal wedding in that sense. Yeah, but has he done a magazine deal? because you may remember that quite controversially when he married Autumn Kelly, they sold the whole thing to hello and didn't really tell anyone.

15:59Which went down brilliantly. And it was all a little bit controversial, but maybe people are relaxed about that now. They are more relaxed. I also think they've probably learnt their lesson on that front, hopefully. Yes. Before we go, by the way, there's been another nuptials. Earl Spencer, Princess Diana's brother, is married for the 56th time. No, sorry. The fourth time. The fourth time. Countess Spencer. She's a Norwegian archaeologist called Dr Kat Jarman. They married in Arizona. They met in 2021 when Jarman visited Orphorp, the Spencer ancestral home. Been there as well. Been to a literary festival there.

16:35Name dropping. I tell you what. We need to keep score. And on that bombshell, Hannah, you go off and get your fascinator and we look forward to the wedding snaps. We will reconvene. We're going to be back with another quick cuppa on Trooping the Colour. What does it all mean? Who's going? And why should we care?

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