Leading the royal party will be the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, as well as the Prince of
Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry.
In their first and only interview ahead of their Windsor wedding, Peter and
Autumn have revealed details of their relationship, including the fact that the Queen’s
first-born grandchild didn't tell Autumn about his royal heritage following
their first meeting at the Montreal Grand Prix in 2003.
This small fact only became apparent to Autumn – who admits the revelation "scared" her - when
she sat down to watch a TV documentary about Prince William in the run-up to the
future king’s 21st birthday in 2003.
Speaking to Hello! magazine, Autumn recalled her first meeting with the young royal: "I had no idea who Peter was. We had a fun night [at a post-race party in Montreal], met for coffee the next day and started e-mailing when he went back to England."
"Maybe six weeks later, after talking on the phone every day, and making one weekend visit to see him, I was watching TV with my mom. It was a special for Prince William's 21st birthday, and suddenly there was a film clip and a mention of Peter Phillips".
Autumn also disclosed details of the proposal, saying of Peter:
"He went down on one knee in the downpour and produced a ring from his
pocket.”
“I certainly didn't see his question coming on this particular day. I looked
horrible, in my wellies with wet hair. I said 'Yes' straightaway."
Peter had originally planned to propose to his girlfriend inside a hot-air balloon last July. However, bad weather scuppered his plans.
As Peter revealed: "I set the whole thing up, with champagne, and thought that if Autumn
said, ‘No,’ I could throw her out of the basket".
Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that Autumn has left the Catholic church
and joined the Church of England.
This move was taken to stop the Queen’s grandson having to renounce his
position as the eleventh in line to the throne under the Act of Settlement of
1701 which essentially bans heirs to the throne marrying Catholics whilst
retaining their position in the line of succession.
Comment: How true Christina - all we can do is try to evaluate the credibility of what the Press and C/H put out there for our consumption .
For instance there have been 3 versions so far as to why William will not be attending his cousin's wedding . The one that said he was taking Kate to Mustique instead - cannot be true if she is to 'deputize for him at the Phillips wedding '. And so on . Layer within layer . It's called spin
Name: Monika
Comment: Christina, another good post.
And, yes, I also read about William having promised to attend the other wedding prior to a date being set for Peter's wedding. Fair is fair. I'm sure he wishes he could be in two places at once, but even a future king with flying capability can’t manage that trick! Lol!! I understand Kate attending the wedding on her own; if William is close to his cousins, then I assume Kate is part of the same circle. Besides, if she becomes a royal, they will be doing a lot of multi-tasking.
Name: Christina
Comment: Well unless we all start getting regular updates from Clarece house and BP directly, I guess we are going to have to continue with the timeworn practice of commenting on what we do know, from various media sources. Very few, a handful maybe know the complete stories before they are printed and THEY aren't talking. The story is now out that William will be in Kenya on a long standing date to attend his friend and Jecca Craigs brothers' wedding. Kate will stand in for him at the Phillips wedding. Why she is not going WITH William, is a whole other story. Posting an opinion that FAMILY matters should be attended by FAMILY is not exactly criticising. Why you make up the rest of that stuff, I don't know. You obviously have it out for several posters, and don't care for their opinions. That's ok. They STILL get to post said opinions!
If you don't like speculation, why do you visit boards that are mostly speculation about what is going on, what MIGHT go on, and how did this go on in the past?
Seems to me, the more comments that are made, the more opinions posted, the more people read, and are brought back to this site. That would be a good thing for Joanne!
The world cannot function on just one opinion. One fact, one idea. Their has to be a multitude of ideas, voices or it just isn't fun.
Media empires were built on speculation. The day it ends is the day the last human dies.
Name: anyacat
Comment: I stand corrected. You are absolutely right. Commentators have the right to criticize others for actions even if they don't know the entire story. And for good measure, I agree with one and all that Clarence House is behind this new outrage probably because Camilla in some way convinced William (who, as we know, makes no decisions on his own) to avoid the wedding, probably so more people can take her photo in what I am sure will be another hat that will offend the sense of the gentle reader. Obviously, if Diana was still alive, William would be at the wedding.
Name: Monika
Comment: Christina, I agree wholeheartedly!! Yes, this is the COMMENTS section and no one should be judged or called names for doing so. But for one or two exceptions, the great majority of posters here respect that. I'm glad you spoke up!
Name: M-M
Comment: Unless I see recent up-to-date photos of William and Kate on Mustique , I reserve the right to think that he might be otherwise employed in the time since his last photographed appearance and causing him to miss the personally important wedding of his cousin .
What we are told is very often not the truth , but C/H smokescreen or Media speculation , and as we discovered with Harry in Iraq , not being visible for a period may mean anything at all .
BTW I think Peter and Autumn would have survived Media interest in Kate Middleton at their wedding
Name: Christina
Comment: If I have an opinion, I think it's fine to post it here in the comments section, without having other posters resorting to name calling and judging. Calling people names because they don't hold your opinion on what should or has happened is pretty lame. No one is nit picking. I do feel like the comment area is for well, um, COMMENTS!!!!
It is a family event. One that is being reported on. I happen to think that the future head of the Church of England,and the future head of the Monarchy should support his own family, at a family event of importance like a wedding, funeral, or baptism when invited. This is HIS family. HIS cousin. A holiday or other event that is not a necessary event for a job/career, is something that can and SHOULD be rescheduled for another time. William and Kate (if they are serious) should be at family events. Period.
What is Peter supposed to do? Have a hissy fit that his "close" cousin and future King don't want to attend? As a future leader, what does this show to his future subjects? Holidays take precedence over family matters? Seems there is enough of that going on already in the Windsor clan.
"Family matter?" Yes, it is, and guess what, WILLIAM IS PART OF THE FAMILY! THIS EVENT is a big deal for the family. He is the FIRST of the Queens grandchildren to marry.
Name: isabel
Comment: I too, read that William and Kate would be on holiday and would not be attending the family event. As if they need another holiday.
As has been mentioned here, it is not as if the wedding plans were made suddenly, and even if that were the case, I don't think the price of a couple of cancelled plane tickets and hotel reservations would hurt William very much.
If indeed this is the case, it would seem deliberately planned that, while the press attentions are elsewhere, it would be a perfect time to sneak off.
In view of the snarky public comments sure to come their way, I would think discretion would tell them to put their plans on hold until after making an appearance at the wedding.
Name: Joanne
Comment: Thanks so much for that, Emma. See, my head's still a bit in the clouds.
Unfortunately, I don't have any royal male to throw me out of the basket!
Seriously, though, thank you for spotting that and being so kind as to alert me to my error
Have a lovely day and thanks again for your support. Joanne
Name: Blue
Comment: I believe it was the Daily Mail that reported Wills and Kate could not attend the wedding because they were going to be on holiday. Maybe this is the "prior engagement" that was mentioned.
Name: anyacat
Comment: It's a family matter. Peter seems fine with his cousin's decision, why is that not good enough for the endless Greek Chorus of nit pickers?
Name: Emma
Comment: Thank you for this article Joanne! I have a correction however... Peter did not ask Autumn to marry him in a hot-air balloon. My husband flies one (which is how we met!) and would agree that one is not able to fly while it is raining. I believe Peter instead asked her while they were going for a walk due to the flight being cancelled. The balloon would have been a fun way to do it though!
I always enjoy your articles.. thank you again
Name: Julie C
Comment: Joanne,
Wouldn't that be something? The media would be furious!
Name: Christina
Comment: William should be at the family event. First of their generation to marry. He should be at his cousins wedding unless he's serving overseas at that moment. Anything else is not really a good excuse. These things are planned months if not a year or more in advance. Any plans with Miss Middleton could have been put on hold. How do you represent family, unity, and good old morals like getting married except to show up at the wedding? It's a disgrace if he doesn't show.
Name: colleen
Comment: I to will be curious to find out what his prior engagement is find it strange as no matter what I am sure he could have found time also it has been planned for a while. Maybe as a surprise wedding present he is planning on buzzing over Windsor in a Chinook helicopter.
Name: Monika
Comment: I read that William and Kate had planned on going away prior to William's three months of naval service. I think it's odd considering how close he is to Peter. On the other hand, the royals send representatives to funerals.
Name: Joanne
Comment: Julie,
Perhaps William is thinking this'd be a good day on which to get married
After all, the press are otherwise engaged and (more importantly) all those relatives of his will be taken up with other things.....perfect!
Joanne
Name: Julie C.
Comment: Interesting. I can't wait to find out what the "prior engagement" is!
