HATS AT the ready!

Get the bunting out, the latest loved-up royals are in wedding planning mode. Here's everything you need to know...

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Who doesn't love a royal wedding? The dress, the romance, the potential day off work! Yet, just as we'd given up hope of seeing one for donkey's years (let's face it, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and seven-year-old Prince Louis are unlikely to be walking down an aisle for a decade or two), along comes a delightful surprise. This summer, divorcé Peter Phillips, who turns 48 on 15 November - and who is often referred to as the late Queen Elizabeth's 'favourite grandson' - announced his engagement to Harriet Sperling, an NHS nurse and a stylish single mum. Yes, a bonus royal wedding is on the cards!

Whirlwind romance

The couple announced their engagement on 1 August, following a 16-month romance, but it had been clear to royal watchers for quite a while that the divorced dad of two was falling in love with Harriet, 45, a paediatric nurse, single mum to a 13-year-old daughter and a devout Christian. The pair met weeks after Peter - 19th in line to the throne, though not a working royal - split from his partner of three years, Lindsay Wallace, and after his 13-year marriage to Autumn Kelly ended in 2021.

In a statement given to Hello! magazine, the couple announced: 'Mr Peter Phillips, the son of HRH The Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips and Ms Harriet Sperling, daughter of the late Mr Rupert Sanders and Mrs Mary Sanders of Gloucestershire, have today confirmed their official engagement.'

Although no date has yet been officially set for the wedding, Harriet is already fitting in seamlessly with the royals. Since their first public date looking 'smitten' at the Badminton Horse Trials in May 2024, over the last two summers at events from Royal Ascot and Wimbledon tennis to polo matches at Windsor, she has looked relaxed and effortlessly at ease with her soon-to-be royal in-laws.

The bride-to-be