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Welcome to the Royal Tea, a quick cuper, a brand new podcast serving up the very best royal insight from the experts into know. That's us, me, Camila Tomminy, and me, Hannah Feness, the Telegraph 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 nuptules, plus whether we might see an appearance from our dear friends in Monteito. 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. Well, well, Peter, can you come on and tell us what's going on here? Hannah, there's a royal wedding in the air. A real royal wedding. It's exciting, isn't it? Have you got your fascinator ready? I haven't. Maybe my union flag 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. Yes. Because the king did one.
Technically, it's a private one. It's private. Well, what does that mean? Can you hang around outside like a bad smell and start trying to get me personally? Yes. Okay. So, who's getting married? Where are they getting married? When are they Peter Phillips is getting married to Harriet Sperling, his girlfriend of a few years. Love that pediatric NHS nurse as close to saintthood as we get in Britain. Wonderful. Has fitted in beautifully with the royal family. Has been allowed to get married for the second time. It's in All Saints Church in Kemble, which is near to Gatkham, 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. Okay, so we've got the king, we've got Queen Camila, we've definitely got uh the Waleses, I think probably with children. What do you They 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 elder statesman of the Wales cousin crew or the Mountbatton 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 Katherine. So the Tindles, so Zara's married to Mike Tindle, 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. And that's one of our favorite things to see, isn't it? It is. Do we know messing around? Do we can we please have Princess Charlotte in a bridesmaid dress or something? Do we know? Yes. Although you've got Savannah and Isa. Surely they've got to be bridesmaids. Regina, who is Harriet's daughter, right? So Savannah and Isla being the
groom's children with his first wife, Autumn, Kelly. Um, 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. Mia, Lena, and Luca. Yes. Lovely. They could be dawning their Glad Racks. They'll have something to do. Love that. Okay, so we know who we think is going. How? Oh, actually on that note, Beatatric and Eujenei.
Yes. Although Eujenei will be very pregnant by then, so it depends a little bit on circumstances, but there are invited. Are their parents? No. Oh, why? Well, optics can't find Fergie. She's somewhere in the You have to find Fergie. You have to check with the police about whether Andrew Mountbatton Windsor is allowed to go that far. No, it's just it's optics, isn't it? It's a very difficult time if you've got your Andrew and your Fergie there. is 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. Uh, and crucially, Harry and Megan, 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 Phillip's funeral. He's supposed to be close to both of them, but no, we do not think that Harry and Megan 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. Well, will Peter, can you come on and tell us what's going on here? But that's because that's then Harry's the only cousin to not be asked to come because I assume as well, uh, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. So that's Edward and Sophie and their children, James and Louise. They'll be going. So I think 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.
Harry, 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. Um, 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 like record a little message from Monty and it would like be played on a big screen. Maybe they could send some flowers. Beam me up Megan. They could send some jam. Some jam as ever. Um, okay. So, we they're not on the guest list. So, talk me through how Peter and Harriet got together. So, she's a pediatric nurse, but I'd assume
she's a little bit horsey because I've been to Mchin Hampton. I've been to the Gatkam estate on many occasions. Darling, have you hung out with Well, I used to do quite a lot of coverage of Zara's um eventing career and I went with her to the European Championships when she was riding a horse called Toy Town, which she nicknamed Naughty. Saw her win it in Arkin 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. So, 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. Um, Zara and Mike had been living in Chelenham, 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 Glostersha 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 tightknit. Yes. 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. Um I was in briefly um and then I was out because I moved on to another story. Peter Phillips. Noic. No, I didn't marry anyone that uh necessarily sort of what did Princess Philip once say about Princess Anne? If it doesn't fart to 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 sweet and 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. I would imagine she is thoroughly good fun. Yeah. And very practical. You can imagine her picking up a toddler grandchild and just ploning them on the back of a horse, can't you? And letting them go free childhood. So Peter met Harriet after he had broken up with Autumn. At 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 20 25 we'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. We can't have her at anything because they're not official. And now look how standards have changed. I mean, I'm all for it because at the end of the
day, they're a blended family, aren't they? The Windsores 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? Imagine meeting her for the first time. I know you'd have to bring your polos, wouldn't you, and talk about horses? You would. But probably quite welcoming. And I think she's still in contact with Autumn, her former daughter-in-law, because of the children and close proxim. Hasn't Autumn gone off and married a multi-millionaire or something? Oh, good for her.
Yes. Well done. If you think about Mike Tindle. Yes. And their relationship. You know, Mike Tindle'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. They did a podcast together. Yeah, that was one thing I remember from the whole Gatkim 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 springrig
of myrtle in their bouquet and they'll be wearing one of the late queen's tiaras. It's not like that. 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. We'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 Pipper Middleton's. Yes. Um of it felt like a royal wedding because the Wales children were there or the Camides as they were then. But this isn't a sort of official significant constitutional moment for the nation.
They've got to be careful from like 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. And 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 Katherine. And so we used on the front page a picture of her going sh to the bridesmaids because she was obviously made of honor at the time or must have been matron of honor 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 in. I think they will have to price it in. Harriet Sperling 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 cuppper? 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. Yeah. So um the late Queen Elizabeth II when she married Prince Phillip in 1947 just 2 hours before her wedding the then Princess Elizabeth's something borrowed which as you do in the royals was Queen Mary's fringe tiara which was probably worth millions of quid snapped in half. A court jeweler had to be rushed via police escort to the house of Gard 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 I And so she covered it up by holding her dress. So apparently she had that massive kind of taffeta, very 1980s Emanuel creation on and she started dabbing herself in perfume and the next thing she spilled half the bottle down the front and her makeup 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 her. I do remember Prince William and Kate Middleton's stuck ring. So I covered that royal wedding in 2011 from the Mal.
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. And um 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. 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, which went down brilliantly. All a little bit controversial, but maybe people are relaxed about that now. They are more relaxed. I also think they've probably learned their lesson on that front. Hopefully. Yes. Before we go, by the way, there's been another nuptules. Earl Spencer, Princess Diana's brother, is married for the 56th time. No, sorry.
The fourth time. Counter Spencer. She's a Norwegian archaeologist called Dr. Cat Jarm. They married in Arizona. They met in 2021 when Jan visited Ororp, the Spencer Ancestral Home. Been there as well. Been to a literary festival there. Name dropping to keep score. And on that bombshell, Hannah, uh you go off and get your fascinator. We're going to be back uh with another quick cuper on trooping the color. What does it all mean? Who's going? And why should we care? If you're enjoying our journalism, why not sign up to From the Editor, our free email newsletter. Start your day with the latest news and opinion, plus our bite-size puzzles. Scan the QR code to sign up free today.
