Peter Phillips is engaged to Harriet Sperling, a 45-year-old nurse & single mom

Ever since Peter Phillips and Autumn Phillips’ divorce was finalized, Peter has been looking for the next Mrs. Phillips. Some men are just like that – always looking for a long-term relationship, if not marriage. Peter spent several years dating two women in succession, and both of those ladies got pretty serious “girlfriend rollouts” in the British press. In the spring of 2024, he began dating Harriet Sperling, a nurse and single mother in her 40s. Harriet also got a big “girlfriend rollout,” the biggest of which happened in June of this year, when Harriet was Peter’s plus-one at several major events. It felt different, like everyone was sizing her up as a would-be princess. And yes, I know Peter doesn’t have a title, but he’s still part of the royal family, and these people are in desperate need of photogenic princesses. Well, good news: Peter proposed and Harriet said yes! They gave/sold the exclusive engagement photos to Hello.

Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling have confirmed their engagement after a year of dating. The couple shared their news on Friday exclusively with HELLO! and released two photos which showed off Harriet’s stunning engagement ring.

A statement issued for the couple by Gerard Franklin, read: “Mr Peter Phillips, the son of HRH The Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips and Ms Harriet Sperling, daughter of the late Mr Rupert Sanders and Mrs Mary Sanders of Gloucestershire, have today confirmed their official engagement.

“Both families were informed jointly of the announcement and were delighted with the wonderful news of their engagement. Their Majesties The King and Queen, The Prince and Princess of Wales have been informed of the announcement. No date has been officially set for the wedding.”

Harriet looked gorgeous in the photo, wearing a frilly white top and skirt, while her diamond ring sparkled as she proudly showed it off. She gazed lovingly at her husband-to-be, who wore a plaid top for the occasion.

HELLO’s royal editor, Emily Nash, said: “This is wonderful news for Peter and Harriet, but also the wider royal family. Peter is close to the King and to his cousins and Harriet seems to have been warmly welcomed into the fold.”

Meanwhile, royal photographer James Whatling, who has photographed Peter and Harriet several times, tells HELLO!: “We were waiting for this news. You can’t watch this couple for too long without noticing how close they are, they’re so tactile and they’re clearly so in love. It was only a matter of time.”

[From Hello]

Congrats to them, honestly. I’ve enjoyed Peter’s post-divorce vibe – he’s dated age-appropriate women, and I like that he’s engaged to a single mom with an actual job (nurse). They seem to be really happy. I’ll cover some of the extra stuff separately, because there’s already a fair amount of chatter about when they’ll schedule the wedding and whether or not Prince Harry will be invited, lmao. I mean, part of that discussion is the fact that the left-behinds and the British media are obsessed with the Sussexes and all of them manage to find amazing ways to turn every story into “but what about Harry and Meghan??” It’s also a tad funny that Peter seems to have selected an engagement ring which looks a lot like the ring Harry designed for Meghan.

There’s another aspect to this too – around King Charles’s 2023 coronation, many royalists were lamenting the fact that it would be a good fifteen to twenty years before the Windsors had any big, happy events – weddings, christenings, coronations. Which means that Peter’s second wedding will be pushed as a big “royal” event, because they’re desperate for those, and they’re desperate to have an event which they can say “Harry must be invited, but he’s desperate to come and he hasn’t been invited, what if he turns down the invitation,” etc.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

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69 Responses to “Peter Phillips is engaged to Harriet Sperling, a 45-year-old nurse & single mom”

  1. Let the will he or will not be invited circus begin. Will he come? No he won’t come. He has been snubbed? No he wasn’t snubbed. Unfortunately this wedding will not be about the happy couple it will be fodder for the gutter rats and their unending tirade over the Sussexes. I wish the good luck.

  2. Blogger says:

    So, when are the tabloids going to harass Harriet’s ex and family and friends?

    Or is that special treatment only reserved for the black American?

    It’s still stupefying that the rats CHOSE to ignore Edo’s dumping of his baby mama to be with Beatrice who was on the rebound after her 10 year long relationship with that American ended and who had married so quickly. That was just disgraceful favour by a cad but oh it got swept under the carpet so swiftly. That was pure tabloid fodder but the Yorks get a pass.

    • Tessa says:

      The spin was what a great step mother Beatrice is to wolfie no concern over the ex fiancee having Edo baby and the quick involvement of Edo and Beatrice. It was not a good look for Beatrice and Edo.

      • Blogger says:

        Dumping your PREGNANT BABY MAMA is such arsehole behaviour. Even if you dump her for a royal. Hello Beatrice? Couldn’t you find a better man?

        He’s like Tom Brady and Beatrice is going to regret this marriage a couple of years down the track. I reckon Beatrice was obviously jealous of Eugenie’s relationship and being the older sister, she was left on the shelf – so hey, I’ll hook up with my childhood friend! He knocked up his long time girlfriend? Not a problem! 🥴

      • Megan says:

        @Blogger what are you talking about? Edo’s son was eight when he and Beatrice got married and his ex had been and is based in Hong Kong where she has owned an architectural firm for years.

      • jais says:

        Pretty sure Edo’s son is 9 now so he definitely wasn’t 8 when Edo and Beatrice got married in 2020. As for how separated he was from his ex when he started up with Beatrice I have no idea. At this point, Dara seems pretty happy and so do Edo and Beatrice?

    • somebody says:

      What I thought. Of course, she was “warmly welcomed” by the family; look at her coloring.

  3. Fandango says:

    She seemed nice but a nurse in her clothes? Please. I think we know enough about her to say typical grifter. Peter is the same. So there we have two grifters.

    • jais says:

      I don’t have a huge issue with her accepting clothes as gifts, especially if she is going to be photographed at big public events. Idc that Peter shilled milk. Is it tacky? For sure. Grifting? Absolutely. Wouldn’t really expect anything less from him or his sister. But I only really care when the media calls the sussexes grifters for doing way less. AFAIK, Peter hasn’t publicly talked sh-it about Harry unlike Mike Tindall. They look cute and age-appropriate so good for them as long as the couple doesn’t say words about the sussexes. It might get dicier though , as far as gifts go, depending on who is paying for the wedding.

      • Fandango says:

        I’m really commenting on the hypocrisy. Meghan pays for all her clothes and is dragged daily for the cost of her clothes and called a royal grifter. This white woman is gifted clothes for being royal adjacent and is praised.. Can we all be on the same page with the lies?

      • jais says:

        Pretty sure we’re on the same page with the lies and hypocrisy. Grifting is pretty common with the royal-adjacents and accepting gifts in exchange for wearing them in public is not new. So Hannah is doing nothing new in that regard. And yes it’s hypocritical for Meghan to be dragged and Hannah to be praised due to skin color. It’s just sadly not surprising. That’s how the racist tabloids roll.

      • jais says:

        Just realized I started calling this lady Hannah instead of Harriet. whoops.

      • Megan says:

        Harriet will never be a working royal so who cares if designers dress her for big events. The tabs lied about Meghan, but why should that influence how Harriet lives her life? The two are unlikely to ever meet and I see no similarities in their backgrounds or style. Nor do I see any similarities between Harry and Peter. Why are you playing them one for one?

    • Hannah says:

      She does come from family (generational) money. I do know that but couldn’t find anything online about her family money

      I did, however, find this from an article

      “Harriet is a Paediatric Nurse Specialist for the National Health Service. According to an online biography published by Woman Alive, she is ‘passionate about early brain development in babies and seeing children thrive’.” 🤔🫢 IYKYK

      • Fandango says:

        Even the media said her clothes are gifted.. So no, it’s not family money.. Why would anyone defend her? Meghan is pilloried for buying her own clothes.. This woman is a legit grifter? Ffs you people

      • jais says:

        Okay, that’s funny. Imagine the articles of perhaps Kate could ask her new cousin for help with early years. That would likely not go down well at KP.

      • Blogger says:

        The Fail says she’s related to the Duke of Gloucester

        “nurse Harriet, 45, who herself boasts wealthy connections and is related to the Duke of Gloucester through her late father”

        The Mail revealed recently that her late father Rupert was the ‘only son of Mr and Mrs Geoffrey Sanders, of Buckhorn House, Bisley, Gloucestershire’.

        “Rupert, who died in 2023, was a well-known solicitor who ran his own firm in the Cotswold town of Cirencester. His father Geoffrey, Harriet’s late grandfather, served during the Second World War with the Royal Artillery and was a D-Day veteran – reaching the rank of major, going on to become High Sheriff of Gloucestershire and a long-standing church warden, as well as editor of the Stroud News and Journal for 20 years. Harriet’s paternal grandmother Eleanor was the daughter of Dorothy Courage, of the Courage brewing dynasty. Dorothy’s brother Raymond was Lord of the Manor of Edgcote, in Northamptonshire – an 18th century estate, once owned by Anne of Cleves (wife of Henry VIII).”

        But that doesn’t mean she herself has wealth – adjacent to it. Partying in Ibiza must have taken its toll because she’s still working as a nurse and she wrote about the difficulties of being a single mother.

        https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14962833/Peter-Phillips-engaged-Harriet-Sperling.html

        She’s still using her first husband’s name.

        “ Behind the scenes, she is mother to one daughter, Georgina, born in 2012, from her previous marriage to private school-educated fitness instructor Antonio St John Sperling”

        The fact that they’ve used Hello to break the news of their engagement means the couple are financially not well-off and got paid by the mag for this “exclusive.”

        What does Peter do these days anyway? He’ll still be paying alimony for the girls he had with Autumn. Expensive venture, this marriage business. Wonder why they’re so hasty in marrying. They can live well together without needing to marry.

      • sunnyside up says:

        I kept my first married name until I married no 2. I wanted to keep the same name as my children, until I remarried.

    • Noddy says:

      A lot of people were asking about how she’d be able to afford the clothes, especially during her rollout last year. I noticed shortly after that that they added her aristo/upper class background, then added that she was a “pediatric specialist” (she had previously been known as just a nurse).

      • Fandango says:

        So even a specialist nurse isn’t earning a truck load.. However the very flattering British media even said she was being paid to wear brands. Plus it’s been said otherwise. She’s OK for being paid even tho she’s extremely royal adjacent but thankfully she’s blonde and white. Let’s not get away from the real story. That’s what matters.

      • IdlesAtCranky says:

        I think they look nice together, as others have said, age-appropriate.

        I have two snarky questions:
        1) do you suppose her nickname is Harry? 😎

        and 2) WHY are so many royal & royal adjacent women so terrible at hats?

        I know in this day & age few of us wear hats regularly. But good grief on toast, her hats are bad! and so are most of the ones most of them wear most of the time.

        It can’t be that hard.

    • wendy says:

      I don’t understand the instinct to crap on this woman — grifter means someone out to swindle — she isn’t swindling anyone, she is promoting clothing brands at royal events which is pretty much what every influencer out there is doing.

      I get commenting on the hypocrisy with how the media treats women differently — but can we stop with the implications that this woman is shady out to swindle? By all accounts she has a productive job and isn’t problematic — maybe we don’t crap on every woman that is BRF adjacent in the name of defending Meghan.

      • Nic919 says:

        This woman has a real job and expertise in early years, so it’s hard to be critical of that. The free gifts have been something all royal adjacents get especially since the Middletons perfected that scheme.

        Yes the hypocrisy in coverage is obvious, but she’s not the one giving the media negative stories about Meghan. That would be the Royal adjacent Middleton family and head social climber Kate.

      • jais says:

        Part of the reason she is being called a grifter is bc the definition of grifting has been used so loosely against Meghan. So now lots of things are called a grift now that are not necessarily a grift, or at least not the dictionary definition of to swindle someone. It was used as a weapon against Meghan but the issue has always been that if it’s done to Meghan then it can be used against any other woman. That’s why speaking up against Meghan being called a grifter when she’s not one has always been important. Anyone who says Harriet is not a grifter hopefully spoke up just as loudly for Meghan not being one. Side-eyeing the BM bc that’s obv not going to be the case.
        Harriet is not swindling but she is taking opportunity of brands offering her clothes in exchange for being photographed at royal events. It’s not swindling at all so much as opportunism for both the individual and the brand. It’s mutually beneficial. But it’s something that Tom Bower, for example, would use to accuse Meghan of being a brazen hussy opportunist. I said above neither she and Peter have publicly talked sh-t about the sussexes unlike Mike Tindall and as nic919 says she’s not the one going the media negative stories about the sussexes. So I don’t have any heat for her but do so for anyone in the media who calls Meghan a grifter.

      • Lady Esther says:

        Thank you Wendy and @Jais, I’m a bit surprised about the pile on for Harriet, she’s far from Kate Middleton as a person. Totally agree. I’m happily on tiara watch for the wedding ❤️

  4. Tessa says:

    Isn’t she co parenting with her ex. Of course this will be all about whether harry and Meghan will be invited witg much deranger action.

    • Fandango says:

      She has a very expensive wardrobe which apparently is ‘gifted’. Tho that’s not dodgy at all! Thank God because she’s white blond! Even tho she’s paid for the ultra expensive clothes

  5. Tessa says:

    A year of dating. How comes pegs isn’t telling peter not to rush into marriage.

  6. Nic919 says:

    Since William skipped Peter’s first wedding to go to the wedding of Jecca’s brother and let Kate meet the queen for the first time on her own, maybe he can show up for the second one.

    • Krissy says:

      I had no idea she went to that wedding alone so I googled and read that at the wedding was the first time she met the Queen. Insane! William never formally introduced them. He really thinks nothing of Kate he never has. They started dating in 2001 I believe and she didn’t meet the Queen until 2008 at a wedding William made her attend alone in his place.

      • Blogger says:

        Well, you want the Crown, I’ll treat you like a doormat. The Middletons will do anything to get that Crown.

      • Nic919 says:

        They also lied about Kate knowing the Queen for 20 years before she passed because Peter was already divorced and it hadn’t been 20 years since his first marriage.

    • jais says:

      It would be pretty bad if he couldn’t show up to at least one of them. Although, I’m still kinda shocked he just skipped the first one. I guess it was for Jecca though? How many articles leading up to this wedding will remind readers that William skipped the first one, lol. Or will they start leaving that part out?

      • Nic919 says:

        William skipping his closest cousin’s wedding to go to Africa for the marriage of Jecca’s brother is just fucking weird. Why would he choose an ex girlfriend’s brother who he is unlikely to know that much over his closest in age male cousin.

        The answer is because of Jecca and what the media has consistently failed to say out loud. Making Kate go on her own and meet the Queen for the first time was just the first of many times William confirmed he never cared.

        Harry was at that first wedding btw. So he doesn’t need to attend again.

      • jais says:

        It’s so weird. Was he trying to woo Jecca at that time? And how weird for Kate to have to go to a wedding by herself as a girlfriend?! When your partner isn’t even there but with an ex. Omg. And I thought no ring no bring according to the Middleton’s? Pretty much shows that rule was made-up for Meghan too.

  7. Mina_Esq says:

    He may have terrible taste in tie/shirt colour combinations, but Peter does seem to have good taste in girlfriends. I didn’t mind his first wife either. Good luck to them.

  8. Amy Bee says:

    The press has already started with the will Harry come narrative. They might want a small wedding but I suspect that the Palace will encourage them to have a wedding that is as public as it can be for non-titled members of the family. They probably won’t get married at St. George’s chapel but it will probably be in small church in London or near his mother’s home. No doubt they will sell the wedding photos to Hello magazine. It’s very interesting that no one has expressed concerns that they have been dating for only a year.

  9. Elise says:

    Could someone have steamed the sleeves of her shirt for the Hello pics? It looks like it was taken straight from the plastic packaging. Tacky.

  10. Libra says:

    Looked up average salary of nurse specialist in the U.K. Salary range is 40 thousand to 60 thousand a year. Clothing for tne wedding will be expensive. She may have to accept offers to dress her.

    • Blogger says:

      Hello Mag will pay for their wedding. 2 for 1 deal. Venue will be free, food and drinks won’t. Surely she’s not thinking of an extravagant dress for her second marriage? With tiara? 😬

  11. Miss Scarlett says:

    Harriet has arrangements with Beulah and Emmy (shoes) where she gets the clothes mega discounted or likely free in exchange for the ads. After every wear, those insta pages have a zillion ads with what Harriet wore.

    I don’t mind it for them bc it’s no different than what influencers do. Peter and Zara both have to hustle hard for their money. Zara is the current ambassador for Fairfax and Favor (or whatever that brand is called with the Penelope Childers style boots), and has done for Rolex and multiple other brands.

    • Noddy says:

      I think Harriet might also have an arrangement with Penelope Chilvers, since they’re always commenting in Insta posts where Harriet wore their shoes.

      The Telegraph did an article on her style and I noticed they interviewed the woman who some believe will be Kate’s new stylist, which I thought was interesting.

      • Blogger says:

        Who’s the new stylist? Maybe Harriet and Lazy can share the stylist. They give off the same style.

      • Noddy says:

        @Blogger: I think it’s Virginia somebody? Or maybe Virginie? I don’t think it’s been confirmed she’s Kate’s new stylist but her name is the main one getting tossed around.

    • sevenblue says:

      I mind it because of all the sh*t the media wrote about H&M. They are promoting these brands during the royal events they got invited to because they are part of BRF. So, it is okay to make money directly from their royal connection, but any commercial deal H&M makes gets criticized to the hell.

      • jais says:

        It’s always the hypocrisy. The reality is these people are getting gifts bc they’re getting photographed at royal events and it gives the brand exposure. It’s not something that is uncommon. The issue is that Meghan is somehow wrong if she ever wears or has worn a gift. If she has anything expensive, whether gifted or bought and paid for.

  12. MaisiesMom says:

    Congrats to them. I hope it lasts as much for their kids’ sake as anything. Children do get attached to step-parents so my wish is for things to go smoothly. I do think it’s nice that she has a real (and vital) job and is age appropriate.

    It isn’t so odd to me that a nurse would be able to afford some pricier clothes. Perhaps they were gifted, or maybe she has some extra income coming for a small inheritance or her ex? My daughter is a nurse (in the US, not the UK). She makes a decent salary and has good benefits, but I won’t deny I help her out with extras, like if she needs to travel and buy an outfit for a family wedding.

  13. Sloane says:

    “ …the British media are obsessed with the Sussexes and all of them manage to find amazing ways to turn every story into “but what about Harry and Meghan??” It’s also a tad funny that Peter seems to have selected an engagement ring which looks a lot like the ring Harry designed for Meghan.”

    The British media aren’t the only ones.

  14. Noddy says:

    So this might be a hot take, but I thought the ring looked more similar to the one Autumn had than the one Meghan had? But they kind of all look alike.

    I’ll also admit that something about this relationship never quite passed the sniff test for me. Something about their interactions, I guess, or the way she was always posing? Also the way they kept elevating her background.

    Anyway, congrats to them, for the kids’ sake!

    • BeanieBean says:

      They do that with the married-ins they have to make them seem ‘worthy’. Kate’s family was a bit of a struggle, but they went far enough back on her father’s side to find money & therefore ‘worthiness’. With Meghan they went the other way, looking for dirt.

  15. Eurydice says:

    They’re an attractive couple when they’re not in Ascot cosplay garb. I hope things work out for them.

  16. Stephanie says:

    She isn’t a single mom, she’s a divorcee.

  17. tamsin says:

    Whatever the source of her wardrobe, I think she looks very well-dressed and put together. She looks very English rose, and so I imagine she will not be the object of tabloid media snideness and bitchiness. I can see the press getting excited about a possible royal wedding. I think one of the royal cousins announced an engagement recently, and the only royal wedding in the near future might be Lady Louise since she is coming of age. Everyone loves a wedding! I guess the Queen saw the marriages of all her grand-children except Louise and James since they are so much younger than their cousins.

    • Tessa says:

      Louise is still in school. She might wait a few years after university to marry.

    • Nic919 says:

      She is just a year or two older than Kate and looks much better. I expect to see articles attacking her once people make the comparison that the younger Kate looks way older and rougher. Even in so so clothes she doesn’t look old lady like Kate always does. That’s why I hope if she has a stylist that person goes nowhere near Kate.

  18. Gabby says:

    I hope these two choose to quietly elope somewhere outside the UK. Not because I think they don’t deserve a big wedding but because it’s what the rota deserves.

  19. BeanieBean says:

    Hello magazine should either stop with describing what we can see for ourselves in the photos or hire someone who knows clothing. I had a completely different idea in my head in what Harriet was wearing & Peter is not wearing a ‘plaid top’–that’s a checked or gingham shirt. Geez Louise! And do they not understand today’s online content? Provide the photo description in the Alt Text box for those folks who use assistive technology for the internet.

  20. Marley says:

    Gasp! They’re holding hands! I thought that wasn’t allowed?!

  21. martha says:

    She’s got a good face!

    I do feel sorry for a normal person who marries in and absolutely don’t blame her for having to accept clothes. She’d be torn to shred it she wore what’s probably her old normal stuff. The headlines would be all – “Disrespectful!” etc.

  22. ParkRunMum says:

    I think she looks lovely and happy and I would fully expect her to be dressed by a designer only too happy to exchange a few outfits for great publicity. That’s the way the system works, if you’re an influencer, which is a new word for what the Royals have been for some time. They’re just supposed to be more discreet than desperate housewives. The problem is, when Meghan did the same thing (not really the same thing, she paid for her stuff, AFAIK) it was lambasted…. For no valid reason. “How dare she?” “Who does she think she is?” ….when all she was doing, was, quite literally, what everyone else had done. She made a bigger splash. And the people who got wet resented it. I was under the impression that William did not attend the first wedding Peter Philips had because he had sold the photo rights to Hello…. So he sent Kate to “represent” him. As if she were of lesser status. Which she was. It was bizarre. Like she was deputising for him in a semi-official capacity. Just…. “Representing” your boyfriend is… bizarre. AFAIK, Autumn married a billionaire (or at least a multimillionaire) based in Monaco, so her life is likely lovely these days. Another one who escaped!!!! ;-D lucky for her she’s Canadian, not American, so she wasn’t libelled as a gold-digger who found the royal lifestyle insufficiently glamorous or what have you.

  23. Lurker says:

    jais says:
    And I thought no ring no bring according to the Middleton’s? Pretty much shows that rule was made-up for Meghan too.

    No, that’s actual tradition. Kate wasn’t invited to Sandringham, Balmoral etc. as long she didn’t have a ring on her finger. Same with Sophie, and Fergie. Not sure about Diana, her father lived at Sandringham, her grandmother worked for Queen Mum, she might have been allowed.

    We know for sure that the Queen broke the “no ring” rule for Meghan. She was invited for Christmas before they were engaged. Kate must have been spitting nails.

    • jais says:

      Hmm, so I was just thinking about it in terms of a wedding guest with the no ring rule. Mostly bc the Midds said Meghan could not come to Pippa’s wedding for that reason. But here, Kate went to a wedding, Peter’s first, when she did not have a ring or even William with her. But yeah idk know exactly how these rules and traditions apply.

  24. Jennifer Lavine says:

    But how white will this woman’s dress get to be? Was she married before? Widowed? Does the child have a father? Or was it immaculate conception? Is that allowable to Royals?

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