Inside Peter Phillips' Relationship With His Ex-Wife Autumn Kelly

Peter Phillips, the eldest son of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips, has led a pretty private existence — well, for a member of the royal family, that is. While his cousins Prince William and Prince Harry have spent their entire lives smack-dab in the middle of the spotlight, Peter's been able to maintain some sense of normalcy as far as his personal and professional lives are concerned. 

That said, Peter's certainly not a total stranger to being in the public eye, as his romantic relationships have long been a talking point for royal fans and publications alike. His first relationship to go public was with Elizabeth Lorio; the two lived together for eight months in 2001. Their two-year relationship ended, and in 2002, he started dating Tara Swain. They split after four months. And then, he linked up with Montreal native Autumn Kelly. 

After connecting in 2003, Kelly and Peter went on to have what seemed like a love story for the ages. Peter, who was frequently referred to as Queen Elizabeth II's favorite grandson, kicked off their courtship with a meet-cute that feels straight out of a rom-com, and his charming proposal mishap sounds nothing short of cinematic, too. However, just like a movie, this love story did not last forever: After 17 years, Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly's relationship drew to a close. Here's what we know about the former royal couple's life together and the efforts they've made to stay on good terms for the sake of their daughters.  

Peter Phillips experienced love at first sight back in 2003 when he met Autumn Kelly. The two crossed paths for the first time at the Montreal Grand Prix. Phillips was at the event because he was working for the Formula One racing team BMW Williams, while Kelly worked at the BMW hospitality suite. According to a close friend, Phillips was interested in Kelly from the moment he saw her. Although he'd promptly make his move, his admirable confidence didn't stop him from embarrassing himself.

As recounted in The Telegraph, Phillips asked around about Kelly's first name because he wanted to invite her to a Formula One post-race party. "I had to ask one of my colleagues what she was called," he recalled. "He asked me which of the two girls I meant and when I said, 'the really good-looking one,' he told me she was Megan." When Phillips approached Kelly, she joked that he didn't know her name, to which he responded, "Of course I do, it's Megan." Phillips was mortified. "When Ms. Kelly told him it wasn't, he wished 'the ground would open and swallow me whole," a friend recalled to the outlet.

Luckily, Peter Phillips' name blunder didn't stop Autumn Kelly from going out with him; they both sensed a spark right out the gate. As Kelly told Hello!, she eagerly accepted his invitation to another event (via The Telegraph). "When Peter smiled at me, I thought, 'Okayyyy! I'll definitely meet you at the party,'" she stated. They stayed in touch, keeping a long-distance courtship; Kelly was still in Montreal and Phillips was in England. A job located in England fell in Kelly's lap, and she accepted. 

Six weeks into their courtship, just before Kelly made the move across the pond, Prince William's "Out of Africa"-themed party took place. The event was televised, and to Kelly's surprise, Peter Phillips was an attendee. She soon learned that he wasn't just any old guest, but a cousin of the future monarch. 

Understandably, this was quite a revelation for Kelly. What's more, her family couldn't believe she'd struck up a romance with a royal. As Kelly told Hello! magazine (via Mirror), "Mum said, 'Oh Autumn! What have you gotten yourself into?'"

After Autumn Kelly moved to England, she and Peter Phillips kicked their relationship up a notch. Kelly's initial concerns about dating a member of the British royal family quickly subsided as she became acclimated to this way of life. After they dated for about four years, the pair was ready for the next step. On July 28, 2007, Buckingham Palace announced that Phillips and Kelly were engaged and ready to get hitched. The proposal, however, did not get off without a hitch. 

In an interview with Hello!, Phillips stated that he intended to take Kelly on a hot air balloon ride in Gloucestershire and pop the question (via Royal Central). Unfortunately, Mother Nature had different plans, as it began to rain on the same day. Phillips then opted for a more mundane proposal, which Kelly claimed she never expected. While they were taking their dog for a walk, Phillips proposed to his Canadian beau despite the horrible weather conditions. "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," she told the publication. "I said 'Yes' straight away."

Though Peter Phillips' mother, Princess Anne, declined to give her son a title, he still has a place in the line of succession. When he was born, Phillips was 5th in the line of succession. As of this writing, he's in the 18th spot.

However, questions arose regarding his place in the line of succession when he got engaged to Autumn Kelly. Under the 1701 Act of Settlement, anyone in the direct line of succession cannot convert to Catholicism or marry a Catholic. This meant that if Kelly — who was raised Roman Catholic — were to marry Phillips, he would have to relinquish his place in the line of succession.

By 2015, the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 was implemented, and marrying a member of the Catholic Church no longer disqualified a royal from the line of succession. However, Phillips and Kelly were set to wed in 2008, so that new rule was not yet in effect. Kelly ultimately decided to leave the Catholic Church and join the Church of England, which ultimately preserved Phillips' succession position. A royal insider told The Telegraph that Kelly wasn't influenced by the royal family to take action. "She was not asked to do this, she did it of her own accord," they said. 

Following their 2007 engagement, Prince Phillip and Autumn Kelly officially tied the knot on May 17, 2008, at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The event saw both Kelly and Phillips' families in attendance. With a guest list ranging from Queen Elizabeth II to Princess Eugenie, it was sure to be an eventful celebration.

As thrilled as she was to tie the knot with Phillips, Kelly had some jitters. A wedding can be stressful for any bride or groom, but when you add the public eye to the mix? It's an entirely different beast. After her nuptials, Kelly admitted to Hello! that she was incredibly nervous on her big day, but those nerves quickly faded as she saw the sea of people congratulating her and Phillips on their special day. "I was frightened of walking down the aisle," she told the publication. "But when I got to the top of the stairs and saw how many of our friends and family had turned out to support us, I stopped being scared and actually enjoyed it."

While royals like Sarah Ferguson have experienced awkward moments in the public eye, Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly have made an effort to keep a low profile over the years. Alas, the freshly married couple found themselves in hot water after they reportedly made a major decision without the approval of their royal family.

As noted in The Telegraph, Phillips and Kelly reportedly made a £500,000 deal with Hello! to publish 59 pages of their wedding pictures in their magazine. These photographs included snaps of royal attendees like Princess Catherine, Prince William, Prince Harry, and, most notably, Queen Elizabeth II. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Buckingham Palace wasn't terribly thrilled about the magazine having access to photographs of the queen at the ceremony. Making matters worse, The Telegraph confirmed that she was not informed about the deal before the issue's release. With Buckingham Palace viewing it as an invasion of privacy, there were mixed opinions regarding the severity of the incident. While Ian Gibson, a Member of Parliament, told the publication that the queen was blowing the situation out of proportion, a senior royal insider suggested this was inexcusable, stating, "In hindsight, it should have never have happened in the first place."

While Princess Catherine and Princess Diana seemed like natural fits for the royal family on paper, one might argue Autumn Kelly appeared to be a less obvious partner for one of Queen Elizabeth II's descendants. As previously noted, her Catholic upbringing created concerns regarding Peter Phillips' spot in the line of succession. On top of that, she was not of the British aristocracy. Rather, she was a commoner from Montreal.

Kelly might've worried about fitting in with her future in-laws when things started to get more serious with Phillips, but evidently, she had nothing to fret about. In a 2016 interview with CBC's Peter Mansbridge, Kelly stated that the royal family welcomed her with open arms. "They never treated me like I was Canadian. They've always just accepted me as, kind of, part of the family," she shared. "The queen knows more about Canada than I ever will. ... She keeps up with everything Canadian." 

Royal watchers got to catch a glimpse of Kelly's dynamic with members of the royal family on a number of occasions. For example, in 2021 Kelly was photographed with Phillips' sister, Zara Tindall, during Mike Tindall's Celebrity Golf Classic event. Body language expert Judi James told Express there was no apparent awkwardness between the two, suggesting that Kelly grew quite close to her ex-sister-in-law. 

As previously noted, Peter Phillips was born into a royal family, but he never received a royal title. His parents, Princess Anne Mark Phillips, wanted their children to lead relatively normal lives, and as far as they are concerned, being a working royal is anything but normal. As a result, Peter and his sister, Zara Tindall, experienced life under royalty without heavy obligations. The same can be said about Princess Anne's daughter-in-law, Autumn Kelly. 

As a non-working royal, Peter is an accomplished businessman, with his most notable gig being a managing director for the company SEL UK. Alternatively, Kelly worked as a bartender and model before pursuing a career as a managing consultant. This career path played a part in her moving to England during the earlier stages of her relationship with Peter. The sense of normalcy they were provided kept the couple shrouded in mystery. Aside from a number of public appearances at royal events, there was nothing publications could necessarily report on since they kept themselves out of the public and led normal lives. Their quality of life shouldn't be shocking to anyone, as according to Daily Mail, Peter and Kelly deemed themselves regular people who "work full time, enjoy our weekends and get on with our lives like anybody else."

Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly welcomed their first daughter, Savannah Phillips, on December 29, 2010, at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. In addition to being Queen Elizabeth II's first great-grandchild, Savannah was also the first Canadian citizen in the line of succession. Despite the royal family's apparent excitement, Peter and Kelly didn't reveal Savannah's name until a reverend accidentally mentioned it during a church service in Sandringham. It wouldn't be long before Savannah became a big sister: On March 29, 2012, Peter and Kelly introduced Isla Phillips to their family. 

Aside from their birth announcements, Peter and Kelly made a habit of not divulging information about their daughters to the general public. Since they are non-working royals, Savannah and Isla have, much like their father, been able to stay under the radar. Although Savannah and Isla are within the line of succession — Savannah being 20th and Isla being 21st — the two aren't bound to uphold royal obligations.

Though Peter and Kelly have made an effort to keep their daughters away from the public eye, the girls still do attend royal events. And on several occasions, Savannah and Isla garnered public attention for their closeness to each other and their cousins during said royal events. Despite their shrouded mystery as a family unit, Peter and Kelly sure seem to have a strong connection to their daughters. 

After 12 years of marriage, Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly shocked the public in 2020 when they released a joint statement about their decision to divorce. The two quietly split up in 2019, and they didn't deem it necessary to formally announce their separation until the following year. 

While they didn't offer a specific reason for the dissolution of their marriage, a spokesperson for Peter and Kelly told People that both parties were on the same page about the decision. "They had reached the conclusion that this was the best course of action for their two children and ongoing friendship," the statement read. 

The spokesperson also confirmed that Peter and Kelly planned to share custody of Savannah Phillips and Isla Phillips. What's more, they were committed to making these changes as easy as possible for their girls. "The couple's first priority will remain the continued well-being and upbringing of their wonderful daughters Savannah and Isla," the statement read. "Both families were naturally sad at the announcement, but fully supportive of Peter and Autumn in the joint decision to co-parent their children." It was also noted that Peter and Kelly both intended to stay in Gloucestershire for the sake of their children.

By 2021, Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly's divorce was finalized. Within the same year, Peter Phillips started dating Lindsay Wallace. After three years and several royal appearances, Peter and Wallace called it quits in 2024. 

Like her ex-husband, Kelly moved on, too. She began dating longtime friend Donal Mulryan in 2021. News about their relationship garnered attention after their first public appearance alongside her daughters, Savannah Phillips and Isla Phillips, at the Cirencester horse trials in 2022. As of this writing, Mulryan and Kelly are still together.

Even after Peter and Kelly struck up relationships with other people, the ex spouses continued to get on swimmingly. On March 13, 2020, the two were photographed at Cheltenham Racecourse. Body language expert Judi James told Express that Peter and Kelly sure seemed to be on good terms at the event. Despite how fresh the news was then, James suggested that the two were content with being friends. "Of course it is common for high-profile couples to claim their divorce is 'amicable' and that they remain 'good friends' and clearly when there are children involved, as they are with Peter and his ex-wife Autumn's split, there are compelling emotional reasons to retain a sense of mutual respect and a lack of bitterness," she explained. "But Princess Anne's son and his ex-wife do seem to have nailed the body language rituals of friendship and even ongoing affection following their split."