Harriet Sperling wore an Emilia Wickstead wedding gown to marry Peter Phillips

Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling had a rainy, soggy wedding in the Cotswolds on Saturday. It was not a “royal wedding,” but many royals attended and there were a few royal touches. There were common touches too, which I actually liked. The bride wasn’t hidden away, she arrived via a Rolls Royce and everyone got photos of her dress before she entered the church. Her bridesmaids were her daughter and new stepdaughters. Harriet didn’t have a train or a crazy-long veil. All of that was nice. Plus, the groom was happy as a clam, which is always a good thing. For all his faults, Peter falls head over heels with his partners and he always seems super-proud to be with them.

Harriet’s wedding gown was designed by Emilia Wickstead, and she wore Jimmy Choo heels. From certain angles, I wasn’t crazy about the dress, but I actually enjoy the lace, especially across her chest and going up her neck. I think the solid fabric of the bodice is a tad too boxy, but whatever. It’s actually a good choice for a second wedding. And yes, despite the tabloids treating Harriet like she’s a widow, she’s actually a divorcee, the scandal of it all! This is the second marriage for both Peter and Harriet. Strange that the royalists aren’t screaming, crying and throwing up about Harriet wearing white and wearing a veil. Those were huge scandals in 2018, for a certain other royal wedding.

Interestingly, Harriet also wore a tiara. Not just any tiara… this is apparently a new piece, made by Pragnell, the same British jewelry designer who designed her engagement ring. Harriet also wore earrings by Pragnell. Perhaps some low-key wedding spon-con? Did Princess Anne offer Harriet one of her tiaras and Harriet refused? Wedding tiara drama!!

What else? Harriet’s bouquet included lily of the valley, and the bridesmaids all wore flower crowns made of lily of the valley. This is being called a nod to Queen Elizabeth II, who used lily of the valley for several major events, including her coronation. Given QEII’s long-standing horror at divorcees wearing veils and wearing white wedding gowns, it feels like everyone is playing fast and loose with the “tributes to QEII.” What’s that? QEII didn’t actually care that much when the divorcee is white?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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80 Responses to “Harriet Sperling wore an Emilia Wickstead wedding gown to marry Peter Phillips”

  1. Kittenmom says:

    Not a fan of the high neck. Otherwise dress is fine. Those dresses on the teenagers are tragically ugly tho.

    • Smart&Messy says:

      And those teenagers were wearing baby shoes – the ones they get before they can actually walk.

      • Mtl.ex.pat says:

        Was coming to say the same thing – the teenagers shoes are hideous. Their dresses are pretty bad too. And one of Peter’s daughters (can’t tell them apart) always looks like she’s smirking – I’d smirk too if someone made me wear that…

    • Swaz says:

      The Virgin wedding attire just made her look older 😳

    • Lucy says:

      I think it looks good on her, I personally can’t wear turtleneck things, at all. Her dress isn’t to my taste but it does show her having a style point of view and they look happy.

    • Emm1 says:

      What? No journalists braying that the late Queen is rolling over in her tomb because the divorcee is wearing – gasp -WHITE?????

  2. Tessa says:

    A more modern look was needed for the gown She is dressed with that veil around her face like a medieval princess. In am disappointed she used keens designer

    • AmyToo says:

      Agreed and is that actually a tiara or is just bejeweled veil? It’s hard to tell.

      • Beth says:

        It’s the Pagnell family tiara. Her earrings are also Pagnell, as is her engagement ring. Upmarket product placement, imo. Better than Peter’s lucrative deal with Hello mag for his first wedding in 2008?

    • Lamb chop says:

      Why? She’s been stalking khate since she turned up. She wears all kkkate’s favs. She’s loving all this on purpose

      • Yvette says:

        @Lamb Chop … She’s a tall lass like Kate as well. For me, this dress style emphasizes her height. Not saying that’s a bad thing, just what it does, in my opinion.

        If the British media follows her fashion, it will make things interesting with you know who.

  3. Becks1 says:

    She looked lovely and Peter looked happy. But, this is where the hypocrisy of the press really ruins even cute pictures like this for me – all I could think of was another royal bride (one who was actually marrying a royal prince) who was also divorced and who was crucified in the press for daring to wear white and a veil.

    The tiara thing is super interesting to me though. A BORROWED tiara?!?!!? (because the reporting is pretty clear that its on loan from Pragnell.) I can see Camilla refusing to lend her one out of the vault, but did Anne refuse to lend her any of hers??

    It almost reeks of desperation on Peter’s part (because I’m sure it was from Peter) – that his bride was wearing a tiara even if no one in the family would lend her one.

    • Beth says:

      Upmarket product placement.

    • Jais says:

      That’s what I wondered. I have to imagine she was not offered one, even from Anne that’s my guess. She could have worn the Pragnell ring and earring as product placement and yet still worn a tiara that was loaned from Anne. Idk to me they’re so stingy and territorial with those tiaras.

  4. nic919 says:

    I thought lily of the valley were flowers that could kill children. At least that’s what we were told in 2018.

    • Kristen from MA says:

      Only when the bride is an American Black woman, apparently. 🙄

    • Ruby says:

      Yes, I recall concern that a certain duchess was trying to kill flower girl Charlotte with the lily of the valley in the child’s headpiece.

      • Advisor2U says:

        Good to know that suddenly the UK press/Royal commentators, and the royal family have no problems with a bride’s wedding choices? Get it;
        no issues with bridsmades not wearing tights, divorcée wearing white and a veil wasn’t an issue either. Okay. 😒

    • Desert Diva says:

      NIC919, I forgot about the lily of the valley controversy of 2018. There were so many controversies from a single wedding, I guess it’s easy to lose track. I believe Meghan purposefully put Princess Charlotte’s life in danger with her bouquet. These people really are something else!

    • Mtl.ex.pat says:

      Yes all of that leaped out at me too – lily of the valley – I think Harry may have mentioned that in Spare – something about a photo of “poor Charlotte sneezing like she was near death” or something.
      And the veil. And the white dress. It all really holds a mirror up to the racism of a certain element of the British public…

    • bisynaptic says:

      🎯

  5. Tessa says:

    No media outrage over white gown. No surprise

  6. SophieB9 says:

    Ye gads! The bridesmaids do not seem to be wearing tights.

  7. AmyToo says:

    Her dress is terrible. I can’t imagine wearing that, even if I was trying to be “conservative” bc it’s my second wedding. Looking at her makes me feel itchy and like I’m strangled. I would have torn that lace neck part straight down the middle within like 20 minutes of putting it on.

    And it’s not even cute or good looking! There was no “fashion” need for a lace turtle neck. The sleeves are fine, but free the neck! She looks like she’s suffocating and it’s not even good-looking, or fashionable enough to excuse the suffocation look.

    Sigh, ugh. “You had one job….”

  8. Patti says:

    She looked good. I liked the tiara and earrings. I wonder did Princess Anne not offer her one. She has the Aquamarine Pine Cone from the Queen Mother in addition to the ones worn by Autumn and Zara. I didn’t love the dress it looks like they just put some lace over a shift dress. I almost never like Emilia Wickstead. Meghan wore a few pieces I liked though. I thought the girls looked lovely. Simple dresses and cute flower head pieces. They looked happy. Good luck to them.

  9. Amy Bee says:

    The Queen must be rolling in her grave. Harriet wore white and had a veil. Where’s the press outrage that Harriet defied a royal dictate? I thought she looked nice. I did wonder if the tiara was part of a sponsorship deal. You know Peter never misses an opportunity to get the cash. Plus did she not invite any of her friends from work or is that she doesn’t have any non-white colleagues?

    • Magdalena says:

      Not only that, but someone pointed out that the bridesmaids weren’t wearing tights! And these are older girls, and it was not a hot summer’s day, so what was the excuse? Hmm. 😀

      The hypocrisy is indeed off the charts in the reporting, and the bias is very glaring.

    • Lamb Chop says:

      Harriet is loving every minute. She’s worn all of Katie’s brand’s from the get go. But as royals or non royals depending which psycho you read, they have sold all their pics to hello. Weird because all the royals there and how can they make money off the royal family for god’s sake/s

  10. Miranda says:

    I think the neck is a bit too high for a June wedding, but the dress is OK overall. That tiara is beautiful! Harriet looks lovely. She really is quite pretty. And you have to respect that she has (had? Is she still going to work?) a real and genuinely impressive job that required an actual education, and was previously a single mom. All in all, she seems much too good for this family. Hopefully she’s too far down the hierarchy (and/or too white) for Kate to feel threatened and pull her petty, jealous nonsense.

    The bridesmaid dresses are tragic, though. Eww.

    Also, all the stories about the World’s Chattiest Corpse’s alleged views on what is or isn’t allowed at second weddings has always been so asinine to me. Even assuming the talk is true, there’s nothing exceptional or scandalous about someone’s elderly granny or aunt having outdated views. Most brides I know had at least one relative who had something to say about how their wedding should’ve been done. You just say, “thanks for the input, Nana”, ignore it, and move on.

    • Gail says:

      She is not and never has been a single mom. She is divorced. The father is still alive. The father sees his daughter. The father financially supports his daughter. She is not out there doing it all on her own.

      • Miranda says:

        The ex, or “sources close to him”, was just blabbing to the Daily Mail the other day that he hasn’t had any meaningful contact with his daughter in several years, and that when he tried to reach out, the girl apparently wasn’t interested. Maybe Harriet and her daughter have a good reason for not wanting him in their lives. Maybe there’s some parental alienation going on. I don’t know. Either way, he doesn’t seem to be involved.

    • Mellyj says:

      “The world’s chattiest corpse” I can’t breathe 🤣 I swear I’ve been cackling for 5 minutes. Thank you for the laugh!

  11. Jen says:

    I like the lace neckline and sleeves, but the neckline and silhouette of the dress underneath, not so much. I think the bridesmaids’ dresses are cute, but their shoes look tragically inadequate for use outdoors – and on a wet day – like they’re bedroom slippers. Peter’s hems are too long. But everyone looks happy, so good for them!

    • Judith in Ottawa says:

      Thanks, Jen, I thought no-one was going to mention Peter’s tragic trousers. Too baggy, too long, too sad.

  12. YankeeDoodles says:

    She looks happy! They both do, they look genuinely radiantly happy, which is — phew — the way a wedding should feel to the couple actually marrying. The high neck and lace seem to be her authentic personal style, if so, good for her, and if it was rainy and blustering, probably came in very handy. The reason for not sharing tiaras might be simply practical — the late Queen had established a custom of lending one tiara to one person, for a lifetime, essentially — they didn’t “share” as there were enough for each woman to have one that was her own, even if she didn’t own it, per se. She might have just wanted something new. Like that rhyme, something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. I always wanted to see a bride with blue soles on her shoes.

    • Becks1 says:

      There are enough tiaras in the royal vault that Harriet could have borrowed one and even if it was never worn again for the next 50 years, it probably wouldn’t have been missed (we are never going to see Kate’s wedding tiara unless it passes to Charlotte. I do think this family is petty enough that we will see someone, maybe Charlotte, maybe someone else, wearing Meghan’s wedding tiara before we see the Cartier Halo.)

      But I wouldn’t have expected Camilla to lend her a tiara anyway. QEII didn’t loan Autumn one – she borrowed one from Anne. Did Anne not offer one to Harriet? (and this tiara is definitely borrowed, Peter does not have the money to buy one and if Anne were so inclined to spend that much money, I think she would buy herself a new one, lol.)

      • Beth says:

        Upmarket product placement.

      • Jais says:

        Just said above, becks, that I lean towards Anne not offering one. Maybe she’s saving it for one of the grandchildren to one day wear idk? Bc if Anne had offered, I can’t imagine Harriet would refuse.

  13. Jferber says:

    Tessa, Harriet is probably trying to placate Kate by using Kate’s designer. You just know Kate hates that Harriet is so much prettier, classier and smarter than Kate. Meghan had the same problem, plus being Black. Hopefully Harriet and Peter won’t have to flee England, too.

    • Jais says:

      Honestly, my thought was uh-oh, Harriet, she’s gonna accuse you of trying to steal her fashion contacts.

  14. Mightymolly says:

    I’m confused about this pairing. Why is he allowed to marry a divorced commoner with a child? Is it because he’s so far down the line it doesn’t matter? She absolutely looks the part of an aristo, but unlike Kate she doesn’t even have a social climbing dossier. She worked for a living. She actually is just like us. Somehow I feel like that must be extra threatening to Kate. Last thing she wants is to be compared to a commoner, suggestions they have similarities as fellow outsiders.

    • sunniside up says:

      He is 19th in the succession, at the moment, of course once the children and grand children marry Peter will be even further down.

    • Lucy says:

      He’s technically not Royal, I thought. Princess Anne refused titles for her children. But I don’t understand what any of that means in the British system.

      • anotherlily says:

        Princess Anne married Captain Mark Phillips, an untitled Army officer. Therefore her children would not have titles. The story around at the time was that Mark Phillips had refused the offer of an earldom because he and Anne didn’t want their children to be titled. In the UK system royal and all noble titles pass through the male line, unless the reigning monarch is a woman in which case her children inherit princely titles. If that sounds ‘unfair’ it is balanced by the fact that women can marry into a title whereas an untitled man who married a titled woman remains as plain Mr whatever.

        The whole structure of ‘social climbing’ is based on women being married into the nobility. In the past this has often meant social elevation for the father with the award of a noble title which then elevated his wife and children and created an ongoing dynasty through his eldest son who would inherit the title. All of this is what the Middletons expected.

    • Blubb says:

      He is a divorced commoner with two children.

  15. s808 says:

    I actually like how high the lace goes up but hate boxy frame of the dress itself but I guess when it’s marriage #2, you basically have to dress like a nun or whatever. glad everyone survived the bride’s subtle attempts to kill everyone with her lily of the valley bouquet!

  16. Blithe says:

    I actually like the bridesmaids’ dresses — although I would have preferred different shoes. The girls are dressed in a very age-appropriate way, and don’t look too young or too sophisticated — which can be difficult parameters to balance when dressing younger teens for a formal church-centered event. As to the bride’s dress, I think the fashion for wearing a lace overlay atop a somewhat more revealing solid dress came about because some churches and other religious institutions have rules about conservative dress. The compromise solution has been to use a layer of lace as a covering for, say, bare shoulders, which otherwise wouldn’t be permitted in church.

    In any case, I think the bride and the bridesmaids look lovely, and Peter and Harriet look happy.

    • sunniside up says:

      I liked the dresses as well but I thought the shoes looked wrong, especially as it was raining some of the time.

  17. Visa Diva says:

    Harriet looks very happy but I’m not in love with her dress, the column and the lace aren’t working together. The under dress looks heavy and the bodice looks like an apron, and the lace collar is too high.

  18. Penelope Cowell Doe says:

    Horrid dress. Bridesmaids’ dresses were tragic. But who cares? It was her and Peter’s day. I just get angry at the hypocrisy in the media and the shifting protocols.

  19. mvaca says:

    I am wondering if the lace bodice of the bride’s dress is a removable lace jacket. I feel you can see the scalloped edge of what may be the lace jacket just above her waist. Maybe for the evening she removed the lace jacket and had just the tank style top. The long sleeves and high neck feel a bit suffocating to me but she’s welcome to do as she likes. Yes, is there not a proper tailor for Peter’s trousers? They fit him terribly and are miles too long. Agree – the daughters’ dresses are nice but the shoes are terrible. They are all old enough to be wearing heels as opposed to ballet flats that looked sodden in the rain – can’t have been comfortable at all.
    Wishing for happiness for them.

    • harriet says:

      Which might be a bit odd because Autumn Kelly had a lace bolero for her strapless dress. Strapless is verboten for a royal bride.

  20. Margaret says:

    The tiara is borrowed, it’s confirmed.

  21. M says:

    There’s no real movement in the dress. All that bunching when she walks is unattractive. My guess is there is either no slit in back or it’s too small for her to walk properly. The wide straps and square neckline are wrong for the style of dress. The lace collar makes me wanna claw at my own neck for how high it goes. Dressing the teenage bridesmaids like they’re 5 is crazy work.

  22. George_Tropicana says:

    The neckline makes it look like she has her dress on backwards. She also appears to be stretching her neck in some of those pics, so I assume it’s not exactly comfortable.

    The rest is fine – she looks happy and radiant, as a bride should look. But that neckline… it really bugs me!

  23. Lamb Chop says:

    They’re both definitely making this a ‘royal wedding ‘. She’s obviously fully into the royal bs, it was hilarious everyone suggesting she should run a mile. Give me a break..She’s full on. She wears allllll of Khates fav brands. They got all the “non Harry ” royals there. Harriert wants all of the royal stuff including a freaking tiara. Im going to enjoy how this pans out

    • Over it says:

      I one hundred percent agree with you. I don’t see any of these people as being nice . The likes of Peter could have shut down the drama about not inviting Harry because let’s face it, ruth acted like Meghan doesn’t exist. However Peter wanted attention for his wedding at the expense of dragging Harry into their desperate attempt to get attention.

    • Tessa says:

      I think that if the wedding were before the Epstein files came out . Andrew and his ex fergie would have been there. I think inviting the York princesses was a way for them to show up harry and Meghan. And the excuse about the age difference between peter and harry is pointless. There is more of an age gap between peter and the York princesses

  24. Cerys says:

    I thought the long train and veil were OTT for a middle-aged second-time around bride but I’m sure that won’t be a popular viewpoint 😩
    I thought the dress and tiara were pretty enough on their own. I’m surprised though that she didn’t borrow a tiara from Anne. Possibly, the jewellers offered it as an advertisement for their products? Given Peter’s track record, anything is possible.

  25. Siri says:

    She looks ok but the dress looks a bit pedestrian and definitely not bespoke. It looks like it could have been purchased from a catalog. With the exception of Harry, the royals sure like their women plain.

    • Kat says:

      Siri yeah l agree, very off de rack dress, it was just very ok, not great, but her hair and veil where lovely , the bride is very pretty so its a shame about the dress.

  26. Jayna says:

    I hate high, lace necklines like that. It is so not flattering. I don’t like anything about this gown. I like her hair and makeup, though.

  27. Jais says:

    The dress is fine to me. I’m not in love with it but she looks nice. I thought the girls’ dresses were cute but their shoes were not, especially in the rain. But they looked happy, the girls carrying the train and the photo of Harriet and Peter under the umbrella. It felt cute and somewhat low-key. That’s all I’ve got.

  28. Over it says:

    Which one is her da? The dark hair one ? Also I don’t know how she kisses Peter. Those teeth look like he could chew through her .

  29. MaisiesMom says:

    She looks lovely and they both look happy. The dress is uninspired. It’s dull and looks uncomfortable and matronly. I like a modest wedding dress, even a medieval style one. Lily Collins wore one that worked beautifully, as I recall. But this one is just sort of rectangular and staid. It lacks.

  30. Over it says:

    The way the press and the places and the Windsors are behaving towards this wedding is really throwing into the spotlight how badly and outright racist they were and still are towards Meghan on her and Harry wedding day and still to this day . From the veil and white like Kaiser said to others remembering the flowers that would end Charlotte. I can’t ever not look at any of these people and see a bunch of sheet wearing hood cutting heads clan members

  31. Lucylee says:

    Peter looks frumpy like he slept in those clothes the night before the wedding. No one thought to have his pants hemmed .

  32. Fina says:

    Not sure about the wedding gown, but I really like the Bridesmaids‘ dresses. Simple, elegant, chic, timeless and age appropriate. I also don’t understand why ballerinas are considered baby shoes? I like ballerinas, and don’t feel teenagers should be in heels. Oh can anyone tell me: what is the white thing on the tiara? It looks like they taped it with bandaid or a paper got stuck? It is not on the pictures in the car.

    • Judith in Ottawa says:

      The guests threw flower petals as the couple exited the church, so it’s probably a rose petal trapped on the tiara.

    • anotherlily says:

      12 year old Mia Tindall wore heels. She had metallic slingback shoes which she showed off in a posed photo. There was the usual mumbling in press comments but I wore that style of shoe when I was 12 or 13. In my day such heels were called ‘baby stilettos ‘.

  33. Beech says:

    I needed a palate cleanser so pulled up Carolyn Bessette’s wedding dress.

  34. lilirose says:

    And this is where Bulliams “we are not a racist family “goes out the window. The divorced bride had a full white gown, a tiara the bridesmaids had no tights on and baby shoes and she was beautiful it was a fairytail wedding but Meghan was ripped apart from this. Not racist my ass

  35. tamsin says:

    I think bride and bridesmaids all looked lovely. I like the silhouette of the bridesmaids dresses- it’s classic and timeless. The simple garlands were also beautiful. The shoes looked a bit inadequate though. I think ballet type flats were a good choice, but perhaps sturdier one. I liked the straight silhouette of Harriet’s dress- and on a rainy day it was a good thing not to have a big skirt! I think it would have looked better without the wide heavy straps on what was basically a shift dress. I think that a strapless bodice beneath the high-necked lace jacket overlay would have looked much more elegant. Overall, there were a number of things that reminded me of another wedding. The beautiful flower arch, the simplicity and silhouette of the bridesmaids’ dresses, their bare legs, and their shoes, the flowers in the bride’s bouquet.

  36. Mtl.ex.pat says:

    THe Fail has an article about the rolls Royce they drove in, saying it’s the same one Meghan arrived to her wedding in. Am I hallucinating or was there not a lot of sneering about the car when Meghan used it- some connection to Wallis Simpson or something? Now it’s being described as a royal vehicle use by the queen and having been modified for Prince Philip if he wanted to drive it. The hypocrisy is stunning…

  37. paintybox says:

    Just my fast take but this all seems very Meghan-inspired to me – the white flower clusters in the arch of greenery, the pure white dress ( yes, on another divorcée), the long bordered sheer veil, the short-stemmed full bouquet, the borrowed tiara, the bridesmaids’ outfits & shoes etc. Everything that Meghan did “wrong” is suddenly admired and praised when a white English rose does it? (and ffs, imagine if Meghan had had a teenaged daughter from a prior relationship and made her a bridesmaid!!!!) 🙄🙄🙄

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