Who is NHS nurse and newest royal Harriet Sperling?

29 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleAdam Goldsmith

Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images Peter Phillips holds up an umbrella in his wedding suit next to his wife Harriet Sperling, who is in a lacy wedding dress

Peter Phillips married NHS nurse Harriet Sperling during a private ceremony at All Saints Church in Kemble, Gloucestershire, on Saturday.

Phillips is the nephew of King Charles, and the son of the Princess Royal, Princess Anne.

The couple’s private ceremony, which was also attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales, followed an engagement announcement in August 2025.

Here’s what to know about the latest entrant to the Royal Family – and the couple’s relationship so far.

An official engagement

The engagement of Peter Phillips, 48, and Harriet Sperling, 45, was announced in August 2025.

A statement said: “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.”

The Royal Family were informed and said to be “delighted with the wonderful news of their engagement,” according to the couple’s statement.

Dating at royally-attended occasions

The couple’s first public outing as an item came at the Badminton Horse Trials final day in May 2024

Chris Jackson/Getty Images Peter Phillips takes his cap off as Harriet Sperling stands in a blue dress and sunglasses a little lower down — The couple’s first public outing as an item came at the Badminton Horse Trials final day in May 2024

The couple attended Royal Ascot together with other royals later that year

Max Mumby/Indigo via Getty Images Harriet Sperling wears a cream hat and dress, while Peter Phillips wears a top hat and suit — The couple attended Royal Ascot together with other royals later that year

Saturday’s wedding arrived two years after the couple were first reported to have begun dating in 2024.

According to Hello! magazine, Phillips and Sperling first met at a sporting event attended by their daughters, who are from previous relationships.

They were soon spotted hand-in-hand at various social events, and most recently attended Royal Ascot in June as guests of King Charles and Queen Camilla.

The couple took part in the traditional carriage procession the Royal Family make onto the racecourse to signal the start of the day.

Last month they were also present at Prince William’s charity fundraising polo matches and in the Royal Box at Wimbledon.

The couple at the Royal Charity Polo Cup in Windsor in July 2024

Max Mumby/Indigo via Getty Images Harriet Sperling wears a patterned green and white dress, while Peter Phillips wears a light shirt and dark jacket — The couple at the Royal Charity Polo Cup in Windsor in July 2024

Sperling’s words on work as an NHS nurse and being a single mother

Her dress was designed by Emilia Wickstead

Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images Harriet Sperling waves in a white wedding dress and tiara from a car — Her dress was designed by Emilia Wickstead

Sperling was accompanied into the Gloucestershire church by her teenage daughter Georgina, and she has written online about her experiences as a single mother.

Published under the name Harriet Sanders, the NHS nurse penned a column in March 2024 on parenting for Christian magazine Woman Alive.

Her biography on the site reads: “Based in Gloucestershire, Harriet Sanders is a freelance writer and works as a paediatric nurse specialist for the NHS. She is passionate about early brain development in babies and seeing children thrive.”

In her article for the site, Sperling describes herself as a Christian and referenced comments made by comedian Katherine Ryan about parenting as a single mother.

These resonated, she wrote, after “my daughter and I journeyed 10 years with only each other”.

“I liken us to an island and it has often felt hard to imagine anyone joining that island,” she said.

Her new husband has children of his own; Savannah, 15, and Isla, 14, from a previous relationship with Autumn Phillips.

The couple were married in May 2008 at Windsor Castle, but divorced in 2021.

The latest royal wedding

Watch: Umbrellas at the ready as royals gather for wedding

Sperling, who will now be known as Mrs Phillips, wore a dress designed by Emilia Wickstead, earrings by Pragnell and the Pragnell family tiara, with shoes by Jimmy Choo.

The bridesmaids’ dresses were also designed by Emilia Wickstead, and the girls wore earrings from Aspinal London.

Her bridal bouquet included sweet peas, myrtle – a tradition in Ms Sperling’s family and for the Royal Family – and lily of the valley.

The 45-year-old was walked down the aisle by her brother Nicholas Sanders, in honour of the siblings’ late father Rupert Sanders.

Sperling’s mother, Mary, was at the church along with her sisters Louisa and Rebecca.

Also among the congregation at Kemble’s All Saints Church were the groom’s sister and brother-in-law Zara and Mike Tindall with their daughters Mia and Lena, and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh with their son James, Earl of Wessex.

Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice and their husbands Jack Brooksbank and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi also cheered on the happy couple as they exchanged rings.