SUMMER OF LOVE

The British royal family celebrate not one but two engagements

- REPORTS: JACK MALVERN. CATHERINE OLIVE

Royals are seldom compared to buses, but when it comes to marriage proposals, there is a certain resemblance. Admirers of the British royal family have waited four years without sight of a royal engagement ring and suddenly two have turned up at once.

Peter Phillips, 48, son of the Princess Royal, announced his news only three weeks after Lady Marina Windsor, 33, granddaughter of the Duke of Kent.

Beyond the immediate royal family, Lady Eliza Spencer, 33, a niece of Diana, Princess of Wales, also got engaged in this summer of love.

PETER PHILLIPS AND HARRIET SPERLING

Peter Phillips, who is 19th in line to the throne, confirmed his engagement to Harriet Sperling exclusively to HELLO! on 1 August, after a year of dating.

Both Harriet and Peter have been married before – he has two children from his marriage to Autumn Kelly, Savannah, 15, and Isla, 13, while Harriet has a daughter, Georgina, a similar age to Isla, from her first marriage.