Princess Anne's Son Has A Girlfriend: Inside Their Relationship

While couples like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle or Prince William and Kate Middleton tend to dominate the headlines, England's royal family encompasses countless other (often more low-key) love stories. Take, for instance, the romantic journey of Peter Phillips, the son of history-making Olympian equestrian Princess Anne and nephew of his majesty King Charles III. Phillips has had a number of partners over the years. In early 2024, he sparked a romance with an NHS nurse by the name of Harriet Sperling. 

Phillips and Sperling went public with their budding connection at the Badminton Horse Trials that May. At the time, one of Phillips' friends said that the relationship was still in the feeling-out stage. However, Phillips and Sperling continued to attend various events together. By September 2024, their summer fling had blossomed into something more, and royal fans were eager to hear all about Phillips' girlfriend. "Peter and Harriet have drawn incredibly close over the summer," a source told the Daily Express, adding, "They spend an awful lot of time together and have been discussing ways for their families to spend more time with each other."

That said, Sperling was unable to join Phillips and his daughters on Christmas Day for the royal family's 2024 Christmas service at Sandringham. Sperling — a single mother in her own right —had to work over the holidays and split her limited free time between Phillips' family and her own. Phillips and Sperling were later spotted celebrating New Year's Day together in January 2025.

In addition to her day job as a nurse, Peter Phillips' girlfriend Harriet Sperling works as a freelance writer under her maiden name, Harriet Sanders. This of note, because in piece she penned for Woman Alive in March 2024 — shortly before she was first spotted with the late Queen Elizabeth's eldest grandchild – Sperling suggested that, as a longtime single mother, forming new romances isn't always easy for her. "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 wrote, though added, "But of course beauty comes from relationships, relationship with our maker and relationship with each other." Perhaps she was hinting that something new was blossoming in her life?

Phillips himself has certainly had an interesting path when it comes to relationships and parenting as well. Prior to his romance with Sperling, the King's nephew was married to Autumn Kelly. The pair wed in 2008 and welcomed their two daughters in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Phillips and Kelly amicably divorced in 2021 following a two-year separation. As part of their divorce settlement, they agreed to share custody of their girls. After his split from Kelly, Phillips started seeing a woman named Lindsay Wallace sometime around the 2021 holiday season. News of Phillips and Wallace's breakup surfaced in April 2024, one month before Phillips first stepped out with Sperling.