The Peter Phillips Gatcombe Park wedding on Saturday was, from the first note of the organ to the last toast under glass, a deeply family affair. Peter Phillips, son of Princess Anne, married NHS nurse Harriet Sperling at All Saints Church in Kemble, Cirencester, before the party made the short journey to the Princess Royal’s family estate for the reception, with the light presumably still warm over the Cotswold hills when they arrived.
A Wedding Planner Closer to the Family Tree Than Most
Behind the scenes, orchestrating the day’s choreography, was a name most guests would not have needed an introduction to. The Hon Peregrine Armstrong-Jones is the half-brother of Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, Princess Margaret’s former husband, making him distantly but unmistakably woven into the fabric of the extended royal family. He is also the founder of Bentley’s Entertainment, the luxury party planning company he runs with his wife, Caroline Armstrong-Jones.
Born in 1960, Peregrine is the son of Ronald Armstrong-Jones and his third wife, flight attendant Jenifer Unite. Antony Armstrong-Jones was the product of Ronald’s first marriage to Anne Messel. The lineage makes Peregrine the uncle of David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon, and Lady Sarah Chatto, both of whom were present at Saturday’s ceremony.
His connection to the Phillips family goes back a long way. He organised Peter Phillips’ 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle, and was called upon for Zara and Mike Tindall’s wedding in Edinburgh in 2011. The weddings of Hugh Grant to Anna Elisabet Eberstein and of Victoria and David Beckham also feature in his portfolio. For Saturday’s celebration, the team was joined by Flora Williams-Ellis.
‘We craft wedding celebrations that blend timeless elegance with inspired creativity, drawing on the most esteemed international experts from every corner of the world,’ the company states on its website. ‘Whether it’s a high-profile gala or a small family occasion, we create memories to cherish forever.’
The Bride, the Tiara and the Emilia Wickstead Gown
All eyes settled on Harriet Sperling as she arrived at the church in a lace wedding gown by Emilia Wickstead: a column design with a dramatic lace overlay, long sleeves and a high collar, accessorised with custom slingback shoes by Jimmy Choo. The silhouette drew comparisons to the Princess of Wales’s 2011 wedding gown. The crowning touch was a new tiara by Mayfair jeweller Pragnell, which carries its own thread of royal history, having also been worn by guests at the coronations of Peter’s great-grandfather King George VI and his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.
By Harriet’s side were her daughter Georgina Sperling, 13, and Peter’s daughters Savannah, 15, and Isla Phillips, 14, all three in matching white bridesmaid dresses. The couple’s engagement was announced in April of the previous year, according to Yahoo Entertainment, and the pair first crossed paths at their daughters’ hockey match, the girls all playing on the same local team. Harriet was also supported at the ceremony by her mother and three siblings; her father died in 2023, just a year before the relationship began.
The congregation at All Saints Church included King Charles III and Queen Camilla, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Eugenie, Princess Beatrice and Zara Tindall with her husband Mike and their daughters Mia and Lena. Princess Margaret’s branch of the family was represented by Lady Sarah Chatto, her son Samuel Chatto and his girlfriend Eleanor Ekserdjian, alongside Lord Snowdon, his daughter Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones and his girlfriend Isabelle de la Bruyère. Their Majesties slipped away after the ceremony to attend the Epsom Derby, leaving the rest of the party to make for Gatcombe.
Peter Phillips Gatcombe Park and the Estate Behind the Celebration
Gatcombe Park is not simply a backdrop. Purchased by Queen Elizabeth II in 1976 for Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, the Grade II-listed estate dates back to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when the manors of Minchinhampton and Avening were granted to Lord Windsor, before the land passed to Philip Sheppard in 1656. Both of Princess Anne’s children were raised here.
The estate is also home to Zara and Mike Tindall, according to Yahoo Entertainment, which reports the 700-acre grounds as a working family base shared across generations. The Tindalls had plans to renovate a swimming pool on the estate, including a luxury pool house, though as of summer 2024 those plans had not been resumed.
Gatcombe also hosted the annual Festival of British Eventing until 2023, when Mark and Peter Phillips declared it unfeasible to run. The ground it covered, both literally and in royal memory, gives any event staged here a particular weight.
Official photographs shared with select publications show Peter and Harriet in The Conservatory at Gatcombe, posed in front of deep green foliage, radiant. For Peregrine Armstrong-Jones and Bentley’s Entertainment, it was another chapter in a long association with this particular corner of royal life. For Peter and Harriet, it was simply the beginning.