Peter Phillips

Peter Mark Andrew Phillips (born 15 November 1977) is the elder child and only son of Anne, Princess Royal, and her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips. He is the eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

After graduating from university in 2000, he worked for Jaguar followed by WilliamsF1. In 2003, while working for WilliamsF1 in Canada, he met Autumn Kelly, whom he married in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in 2008. Phillips keeps a low public profile and for the most part, carries out no obligations on behalf of the royal family; for many years he has worked in the sports sponsorship and management fields.

He is currently 13th in line to succeed his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth II.

Early life and education

Peter Phillips was born at 10:46 am on 15 November 1977, at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington in west London.^[1][2] He was the first child of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips, who had married in 1973.^[2] At the time of his birth, there was a 41-gun salute from the Tower of London.^[2] He was baptised Peter Mark Andrew Phillips on 22 December 1977, by the then Archbishop of Canterbury Donald Coggan in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace.^[3][4]

Phillips was fifth in line to the Throne at birth and remained so until the birth of his cousin, Prince William, in 1982. His parents were said to have refused offers from the Queen that would have led to his being born in the peerage. Phillips was therefore the first legitimate grandchild of a monarch to be born without a title or courtesy style for more than 500 years.^[2][6] Phillips has two half-sisters, Felicity Tonkin (born 1985), the daughter of Mark Phillips and his former mistress Heather Tonkin,^[7] and Stephanie Phillips (born 1997), the daughter of his father's second marriage to Sandy Pflueger.

Phillips went to Port Regis Prep School in Shaftesbury, Dorset before following other members of the Royal Family by attending Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland. Whilst at Gordonstoun, he was chosen to be head boy^[8][9] and also played in the XV.^[10] He then went to the University of Exeter and graduated with a degree in sports science.^[10] At university, he played for the Exeter University Rugby League team.

Post-university

After his graduation in 2000, Phillips worked for Jaguar as corporate hospitality manager and then for WilliamsF1 racing team, where he was sponsorship accounts manager.^[8][10][11] In 2004, while working for WilliamsF1, Phillips was in a van in China with three other employees when the van was hit by a car. Phillips was uninjured.^[12] He left WilliamsF1 in September 2005, for a job as a manager at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh.^[10] In March 2012, he left RBS to take on a role as managing director at SEL UK.^[13]

Unlike his sister's personal life, Phillips' personal life receives only limited publicity.^[8] He dated Elizabeth Lorio, a cod liver oil heiress from the United States, for two years; in 2001 they lived together for eight months.^[14] Later, he had a four-month relationship with Tara Swain, a flight attendant.^[15]

In August 2012, it was announced that he would be the Guest of Honour at the 2012 Rugby League Challenge Cup Final between Warrington Wolves and Leeds Rhinos at Wembley on 24 August 2012.^[16]

In the year leading up to June 2016 Phillips was responsible for organising the "Patron's Lunch", in celebration of the Queen's 90th birthday and involving a parade down The Mall and a hamper picnic for 10,000 guests.^[17]

Marriage and children

In 2003, Phillips met Autumn Kelly, a Canadian management consultant, at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.^[8] Their engagement was announced on 28 July 2007.^[10][14][18]

Before her marriage, Autumn Kelly converted from Roman Catholicism to the Church of England. If she had been Roman Catholic at the time of the marriage, Phillips would have lost his place in the line of the succession to the throne because of the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701.^[20][21][22] Shortly before their wedding, the couple caused some reported unease in royal circles when they were interviewed and photographed by Hello! magazine, and were reported to have been paid £500,000.^[23][24][25] They married on 17 May 2008 at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.^[25][26] The service was conducted by David Conner, the Dean of Windsor.^[27] The couple lived in Hong Kong after Phillips moved positions within the Royal Bank of Scotland to head their sponsorships activities in the region. They now live in London where he continues to work for the bank.^[28]

Their first child, and the Queen's first great-grandchild, a daughter named Savannah Anne Kathleen,^[29] was born on 29 December 2010 at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.^[30][31] On Saturday, 23 April, the Queen was present for the baby's baptism, which took place at Holy Cross Church in Avening, Gloucestershire, near Gatcombe Park, the home of his mother. Savannah is 14th in line to the throne.^[32] On 29 March 2012, the couple's second daughter, Isla (pronounced eye-la) Elizabeth Phillips, was born. She is 15th in line to the throne.^[33]

Arms

Arms of Peter Phillips

Notes These arms were granted to Peter William Garside Phillips, the father of Mark Phillips and grandfather of Peter Mark Andrew Phillips, in October 1973. Mark used these arms differenced with a three-point label, and the younger Peter with a five-point label, until Mark inherited the plain arms in 1998.[34][35] Escutcheon Per chevron azure and Or, in chief a horse courant argent, and in base a sprig of forget-me-not flowers, slipped and leaved proper.[34]

Ancestry

References

External links

• Peter Phillips at the Internet Movie Database