As the excitement builds for Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling’s royal wedding, their blended family gathered at a historic Cotswolds church for a dress rehearsal today.
The anticipation is palpable as preparations are underway for the big event. Among the casually dressed attendees was Zara Phillips, who, along with others, was seen entering the 12th-century All Saints’ Church this afternoon.
This picturesque venue is nestled in Kemble, near Cirencester, conveniently close to Princess Anne’s residence at Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire.
Just after 5 p.m., Zara, sporting a relaxed look with wraparound sunglasses, a grey top, and jeans, was observed mingling with the roughly 30 guests before making her way into the church.
Among the group were three teenage bridesmaids, believed to include Harriet’s daughter Georgina, 14, from her previous marriage, alongside Peter Phillips’ daughters, Savannah, 15, and Isla, 14.
The young bridesmaids appeared to be rehearsing their roles, practicing the graceful act of holding an imaginary veil as they stepped in unison towards the church entrance.
While Peter introduced Harriet to Savannah and his other daughter Isla shortly after they started dating in May 2024, it is understood that Georgina only met the royal family at Balmoral last year.
Among the guests expected tomorrow are King Charles and Queen Camilla, the Prince and Princess of Wales and of course Princess Anne and her husband vice admiral Sir Tim Lawrence.
Zara Phillips has taken part in a dress rehearsal for her brother Peter’s intimate Royal Wedding to Harriet Sperling at a church in the Cotswolds
Harriet’s daughter Georgina is pictured left with Savannah Phillips at the dress rehearsal today
Harriet Sperling attends a dress rehearsal for her wedding this afternoon
Crews have been working tirelessly to help set up for the event – carrying large urns, decorations and various plants into the church to begin setting up for the ceremony
Peter’s sister Zara and her husband Mike Tindall will also be among the attendees, along with Prince Edward’s, Duke of Edinburgh and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh.
Amid the preparations, a squad of police officers were checking the graveyard and church and preparing to close several nearby roads in the village tomorrow morning for security.
Although the rehearsal was blessed with a sunny evening, the ceremony itself tomorrow is likely to be wetter, with the chance of rain greeting the couple’s emergence from the church estimated at around 90 percent.
The festivities are being overseen by Bentley’s Entertainments, a blue-chip firm which oversaw David and Victoria Beckham’s wedding, multiple parties for Sir Elton John, Princess Eugenie’s Windsor wedding to Jack Brooksbank, and Peter Phillips’ 2008 wedding to Autumn Kelly.
Peter and Harriet officially announced their engagement in August last year after first being linked in May 2024.
In a statement to announce the joyous news, they said both families were ‘delighted’.
Fellow divorcee Harriet, who shares a 13-year-old daughter, Georgina, from her first marriage, boasts wealthy connections, sharing a relation to the Duke of Gloucester through her late father, Rupert Sperling.
Peter, who is 19th in the line of succession, popped the question with a sparkling ring which boasts a subtle but touching tribute to his beloved grandmother – the late Queen Elizabeth II – having been designed by the same jeweller behind her iconic 1946 ring.
Born Harriet Eleanor Sander to Mary Hoskins and Rupert Sanders, the 46-year-old has three siblings, Nicholas, Louisa, and Rebecca.
Isla Phillips is pictured beside her father Peter Phillips at the run-though this afternoon
Peter, 48, is set to wed his NHS fiancée Harriet, 45, on Saturday in what insiders have described as an intimate but deeply significant affair
Zara, the daughter of Princess Anne, was pictured wearing a dark grey jacket and sunglasses as she chatted to Ms Sperling, who donned a striped jumper
According to an online bio, the NHS nurse is ‘passionate about early brain development in babies and seeing children thrive’, Tatler reported.
She has previously reflected on being a single mother in a poignant essay for Woman Alive, a Christian monthly magazine for women, in which she admitted ‘resources were scarce and the future was uncertain’ at the beginning.
Harriet wrote: ‘In the earlier years of my journey as a single mother to my daughter, resources were scarce, and the future was uncertain.
‘Yet, in the absence of material security, I discovered the strength and life that comes from true selfless love. A love that is able to be solely devoted to your child.’
She added: ‘This extraordinary bond between a single mother and her daughter, marked by a mix of joy, challenges and unwavering love, is a testament to the strength of the human spirit.
‘It’s a reminder that sometimes, when we think ‘we have nothing, we actually have everything’ we need.’
Shortly after, she met Peter as the Daily Mail’s Editor-at-large Richard Kay reported friends of the couple saying, ‘This is a romance moving at pace.
‘They are so comfortable together, they look like they have known each other for ages.’
For royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams, there is no doubt that Peter and Harriet’s wedding will be vastly different from his previous nuptials to Autumn Kelly that left the Royal Family ‘bewildered’.
Held at Windsor’s St George’s Chapel in 2008, the high-profile event saw 300 guests gather to celebrate the happy couple, including 70 members of Autumn’s family and even a young Kate Middleton.
But now, 17 years on, the day is often remembered for the highly intimate snapshot into the family life of the royals it provided, all thanks to a controversial deal the newlyweds signed with Hello! magazine.
Peter and Harriet officially announced their engagement in August last year after first being linked in May 2024 (picture from the dress rehearsal)
Born Harriet Eleanor Sander to Mary Hoskins and Rupert Sanders, the 46-year-old has three siblings, Nicholas, Louisa, and Rebecca
As a £500,000 wedding present to the couple, Hello! were given exclusive rights to picture most of the ceremony including inside the chapel and the reception in Frogmore House.
This resulted in a 100-page exclusive feature from the magazine, which included remarkably candid shots of the royals including images of the family laughing and one photo of Prince Harry giving his grandmother – Elizabeth II – a peck on the cheek.
They were a far cry from the traditionally stage-managed wedding photographs released by the Royal Family.
And the spread was not well received by the Firm, with senior members of the family – including the late Queen – allegedly less than impressed, having felt blindsided by the publication of the pictures.
Buckingham Palace released a statement shortly afterwards claiming that the deal was a ‘serious error of judgement.’
Even politicians at the time also chimed in, with Labour MP Ian Gibson claiming the British public would be shocked to see their monarch in those pages.
The pair later welcomed daughters Savannah, now 15, and Isla, 13, before separating in 2019. Their divorce was finalised in 2021.
