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Mark the date in your diary. Saturday June 6 2026 will see Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips walk down the aisle for a second time – as he ties the knot with his nurse fiancee Harriet Sperling.
Yes, the affair is set to be a low-key event – held at All Saints Church near Cirencester, and the guestlist has not been announced – but sources say it’s closest we could get to having feuding brothers Princes William and Harry in the same room for years.
“They haven’t been in the same room since August 2024, when Harry and William both attended the funeral of their uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes,” a source told Closer.
“They were there but completely separate. They sat apart at the back of the church and didn’t speak at all. It was the first time they’d shared the same space since their father Charles’ Coronation.”
Indeed, while it’s understood Harry and William remain close to their cousin Peter, the insider revealed the royal family is feeling “anxious” about a possible reunion between the two – no matter how joyous the occasion.
“While Harry holds onto hope, William is still furious about his behaviour,” the insider explained.
“There are so many unresolved feelings between them and the family fear that William’s ready to unleash how he feels, which could even lead to an altercation.
“Part of William is tempted to have it out once and for all. There is a lot that has never been said face-to-face.”
Certainly, Sally Bedell Smith – author of the Royals Extra Substack – told People that Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, have recently been “pushing the envelope and making it much more difficult for reconciliation to happen”.
The couple’s much-publicised quasi-royal tour of Australia is understood to have raised eyebrows, as did Meghan’s decision to launch fragrances candles inspired by the birthdates of her children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
“It was shocking to see her go to the hospital and then sell the clothing she was wearing,” Bedell Smith told People. “ I’ve never seen anybody in the royal family do that. I can’t imagine it went down well with the palace.”
The commercial moves Meghan has been making are said to have irked senior royals, given it was exactly what the Queen feared if Harry and Meghan were allowed to pursue the “half-in, half-out” role they wished before Megxit – a role that would see them combine royal duty with commercial profit.
“Charles is not thrilled his grandchildren are being used to peddle candles,” an insider previously told Woman’s Day. “William’s stunned they would take such a risk – even if Archie and Lilibet’s names aren’t on the packaging, it will be in the press release and on the website.”
Harry – it appears – seems to be taking a defiant attitude to the current situation he finds himself in.
“I will always be part of the royal family. . . . I am here working, doing the things I was born to do,” he announced during a surprise visit to Ukraine on April 24.
It seems clear Meghan and Harry hope to continue on this path of combining public service, personal branding and commercial interests – no matter what the palace thinks.
However, Queen Elizabeth’s former press secretary Ailsa Anderson put it blunty in an assessment to People.
“What Harry and Meghan are doing is a nonnegotiable for William. He wouldn’t countenance any acceptance of it.”
