Okay, so I kind of feel like shit for saying on the blog two weeks ago that Peter Phillips was the sexiest member of the Royal Family. Because he obviously read it and is now divorcing his wife for me.
Totally kidding. But I do feel kind of bad and weird that this all happened literally right after my first and probably only post about Peter on TDC.
(P.S., shoutout to loyal reader Erika for the heads up on this last night!)
Who is Peter Phillips? He is the son of Princess Anne and her first husband, Mark Phillips. He’s also the eldest of the Queen’s eight grandchildren and, unfortunately, her first grandchild to divorce. (Three of the Queen’s four children divorced; of the Queen’s eight grandchildren, six are either married or engaged and this is the first divorce in the Family since the mid-1990s.)
Reasons for the split are unclear, but this statement was released:
“After informing HM The Queen and members of both families last year, Peter and Autumn jointly agreed to separate. They had reached the conclusion that this was the best course of action for their two children and ongoing friendship. The decision to divorce and share custody came about after many months of discussions and although sad, is an amicable one. The couple’s first priority will remain the continued well-being and upbringing of their wonderful daughters Savannah (9) and Isla (7). Both families were naturally sad at the announcement, but fully supportive of Peter and Autumn in the joint decision to co parent their children. Both Peter and Autumn will remain in Gloucestershire to bring up their two children where they have been settled for a number of years. Peter & Autumn have requested privacy and compassion for their children while the family continues to adapt to these changes.”
The couple married in 2008.
Look, as a child of divorce, I don’t like divorce, so this is not good news.
Switching gears, William and Kate did a joint outing today with Charles and Camilla, visiting a rehabilitation center for members of the armed forces. The two couples rarely work together, so it was nice to see them laughing and cutting up. News today broke that William and Kate will undertake a Royal visit to Ireland from March 3 to March 5, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.
As for Harry and Meghan, after giving a speech for a JPMorgan event in Miami that reportedly netted them a cool million over the weekend (Meghan introduced Harry and Harry apparently spoke about losing his mother, Diana, and his decision to step back from the Royal Family – and apparently these JPMorgan people signed a pretty airtight nondisclosure agreement because that’s all I can find), the pair is booked to return to the U.K. for Commonwealth Day on March 9, as well as a final round of engagements in the country before returning back home to Canada.
Damn, just when we thought the bad news was done for the Firm, another hit. Thinking of Peter and Autumn, and their kiddos Savannah and Isla, during what I know must be a difficult time.
More details to come on everything as I get more details.