The 2010s marked an exciting period of royal weddings and babies, but since then, it’s been fairly quiet on the nuptials front. It will be quite a few years before the public will enjoy a wedding on the level of Prince William and Kate Middleton, as their children are only 12, 10, and 7. But on August 1, Princess Anne’s son, Peter Phillips, gave fans something exciting to look forward to when he announced his engagement to NHS nurse Harriet Sperling. No details of the upcoming wedding have been released just yet, but royal watchers are wondering where they’ll tie the knot, what she’ll wear, and if there will be a tiara involved.
This will be a second wedding for both Sperling, who shares a daughter with her ex-husband, and Phillips, who co-parents daughters Savannah, 15, and Isla, 13, with ex-wife Autumn Kelly. The celebrations will likely be a small affair—unlike the royal wedding Phillips and Kelly had at St George’s Chapel in 2008—but it’s still possible that the future Mrs. Phillips will wear a tiara, as historian Jessica Storoschuk tells Marie Claire.
“Although it is a second marriage for both Peter and Harriet, Princess Anne will likely offer a tiara for Harriet to wear,” the An Historian Around Town blogger says. As for a potential design, Storoschuk points out that the Princess Royal has several options to lend out, but one tiara is a definite pass.
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Harriet Sperling and Peter Phillips announced their engagement on August 1.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Autumn Kelly wore Princess Anne’s Festoon Tiara for her 2008 wedding to Phillips.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Princess Anne is seen wearing Princess Andrew’s Meander Tiara in 1988.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“She loaned Autumn the Diamond Festoon Tiara for the couple’s 2008 wedding, so it is unlikely that she would offer the same again,” the royal historian shares. “As her Aquamarine Pineflower Tiara is currently on display at the V&A in the Cartier exhibition, she very well may offer Princess Andrew’s Meander Tiara, a versatile diamond piece.”
The Meander Tiara originally belonged to Prince Philip’s mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, who was married to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark. It’s a favorite style of Princess Anne’s, and notably she leant it to her only daughter, Zara Phillips, when she married Mike Tindall in 2011.
However, Sperling might choice to go without a diamond headpiece and instead wear an elegant hat like Queen Camilla did for her 2005 wedding to King Charles—an occasion that was a second marriage for both parties. Princess Anne also chose not to wear a tiara for her second wedding in 1992, so it’s a distinct possibility Harriet could follow in her future mother-in-law’s footsteps—although Storoschuk notes that the Princess Royal would likely give Sperling the option either way.
