Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling name the day

Peter Phillips, only son of the Princess Royal and the King's nephew, and Harriet Sperling, his girlfriend of two years, have announced their marriage date.

The 'royal' couple are to wed in a private ceremony in the Cotswolds this summer. Peter and Harriet will marry at All Saints' Church in the village of Kemble, near Cirencester, on Saturday 6 June, 2026.

 The pair announced their engagement on 1 August 2025. Peter Mark Andrew Phillips (born 15 November, 1977), is the only son of Capt Mark Anthony Peter Phillips (born 22 September, 1948), late the Queen’s Dragoon Guards, scion of that landed gentry family, and his first wife HRH The Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise, Princess Royal, KG, &c (born 15 Aug, 1950).

Harriet Eleanor Sperling (born 1980), is a daughter of the late Rupert Hugh Sanders (1944-2023) and his wife the former Mary Elizabeth Hoskins (born 1950).

Peter Phillips, nephew of the King, and Queen Elizabeth II's eldest grandchild, was first seen on the arm of a new girlfriend two years ago.  Harriet, described in the Sun newspaper as "a paediatric and specialist nurse and freelance writer in her 40s" was seen with Phillips at the Badminton Horse Trials where she was introduced to Queen Camilla.

Harriet wrote in March 2024 of the struggles, and joys, of her life as a single parent bringing up her young daughter, Georgina Isabella (born in 2012). She highlighted how while 'parenting solo can be tough' it 'can also be the most beautiful, precious relationship.' Harriet said: 'In the earlier years of my journey as a single mother to my daughter, resources were scarce, and the future was uncertain. 'Yet, in the absence of material security, I discovered the strength and life that comes from true selfless love. A love that is able to be solely devoted to your child.'

Harriet's first marriage was to Antonio St John Sperling (born with the surname Di Martino in Nov 1981), who was a son of Domenico Di Martino & of Sonia Anne Agnes Sperling (1952-2017), scion of that landed gentry family, of Lattenbury Hill, St Ives, Huntingdonshire, and descended from Admiral Sir Henry Loraine Baker, 2nd Baronet, CB.

Harriet's life as a struggling single parent belies her aristocratic and distinguished ancestry. The NHS nurse was born Harriet Eleanor Sanders, her birth registered at Swindon, in the first quarter of 1980, daughter of solicitor Rupert Hugh Sanders (1944-2023), and his wife the former Mary Elizabeth Hoskins (born 1950), daughter of Richard Samuel Hoskins (1912-78), of Park Corner, Cirencester, and his wife (nee Wakefield).

Harriet's mother featured in Tatler in 1971 on their 'Girls in Pearls' page following the announcement of her engagement to Rupert Sanders, whose ancestry is rich in the landed 'beerage' and stockbroking.

Harriet's grandfather Maj Geoffrey Thomas St John Sanders (1911-86), a High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, married Eleanor De Zoete (1910-78), of the Mill House, Radwell, scion of the De Zoete stockbroking dynasty, daughter of the Old Etonian stockbroker and famed England cricketer Herman Walter De Zoete (1877-1957).

Herman De Zoete was a right-handed batsman who bowled both slow left-arm orthodox and left-arm medium pace, and played for Cambridge University in the 1890s. He was part of the De Zoete & Bevan stockbroking family who were bought out by Barclays Bank in 1986. De Zoete married in Essex in 1903, Dorothy Courage (1877-1972), scion of the Courage landed gentry family, whose fortune was based on brewing from the 18th century. 

Dorothy Courage was the tenth child of Edward Courage (1832-1904), of Shenfield Place, Brentwood, Essex, and Hanover Square, London, an old Harrovian, head of the Courage landed gentry family, by his wife the former Helen Rosa Marshall (1837-96), a scion of that landed gentry family of Hardres Court, Canterbury.

Harriet has siblings: Nicholas (born 1975), Louisa (born 1976), and Rebecca (born 1986).

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The Baron Haskins 1937-2026

The Baron Haskins, life peer, has died aged 88.

He was a businessman, latterly Chairman of Northern Foods from 1980-2002. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Haskins, of Skidby in the County of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on 25 July 1998.

Christopher Robin Haskins, a former chair of the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and of Northern Foods, was born in Dublin, 30 May, 1937. He joined Wakefield-headquartered Northern Foods – then known as Northern Dairies in 1962 – becoming a director of the firm in 1967, deputy chairman in 1974, then chairman from 1980 to 2002.

During 2001, at the height of the foot and mouth disease epidemic, he became Prime Minister Tony Blair's 'rural tsar'. Lord Haskins retired from the Lords on 1 December 2020.

Sometime a member of the Labour Party. A dedicated supporter of the Humber region, Lord Haskins used his Humber LEP role to widely promote the region’s interests and ensure the views of its businesses were represented in government. He won the Ambassador award at TheBusinessDesk.com’s Business Masters Awards in 2015.Many tributes have been paid to him, with friends and colleagues describing him as an “inspirational leader”.

 He married in 1959, Gilda Horsley (born 1936),  daughter of Alec Stewart Horsley (1902-1993), and his wife the former Ida Seward Howitt, by whom he had two sons.

Nigel Kenneth Cayzer (nee Galliers-Pratt) 1954-2026

 Nigel Kenneth Cayzer, who died in France, 21 March, 2026, aged 71, was descended from the Cayzer baronets.

He was a businessman and chairman of two London-listed funds: Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies Investment Trust and Oryx International Growth Fund. He served as chairman of the cancer care charity Maggie's from 2005 to 2014.

 Cayzer began his career working in the stock exchange for L Messel & Co. In 1986 he became a non-executive director of Caledonia Investments, a UK-listed investment trust company. In 1989 he became chairman of Allied Insurance Brokers (AIB). In 1991 the holding company's name was changed from Allied Insurance Brokers to Oriel. Oriel subsequently became the UK's leading motor warranty company.

In 1993 he oversaw the acquisition by the Oman National Insurance Company (ONIC) of an 18.7% stake in Oriel. The following year he established and became chairman of the Oryx JIA, an open-ended fund quoted on the Muscat Securities Market and invested principally in equities in Oman and other countries in the GCC. He held this position until 2007. He was a non-executive director of the Alliance Housing Bank SAOG between 1998 and 2006, and is the current chairman of the Oryx International Growth Fund.

He was born 30 April, 1954, the second son of Anthony Malcolm Galliers-Pratt, CBE (1928-1998), and his wife Angela Cayzer (1926-2014), daughter of Sir Charles William Cayzer, 3rd Baronet (1896-1940).

In 1982 he assumed the surname of Cayzer in lieu of his patronymic on being named as heir to the property of his uncle, Sir James Cayzer, 5th Baronet. 

He married 8 May, 1986, Henrietta Caroline Rose Sykes (born 12 May, 1957), younger daughter of Sir Mark Richard Tatton Sykes, 7th Baronet (1905-1978), of Sledmere, by whom he had issue, two sons, Arthur (born 24 March, 1988), and John (born 30 Oct, 1996), and two daughters, Virginia (born 17 Jan, 1990), and Angelica (born 11 Sept, 1992).

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John Christopher Levett-Prinsep 1946-2026

 John Christopher Levett-Prinsep, who died 24 March, 2026, aged 79, was a scion of that landed gentry family. He was born in 1946, son of Edward John Levett-Prinsep (1914-1979), and his wife the former Irene Hartley (1919-2015); and married in 1968, Deirdre McLean (born 1945), by whom he had issue, two sons, Richard (born 1975), and Michael (born 1978).

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Baroness Nickson (died 2026)

 The Baroness Nickson, who died 22 March, 2026, aged 90, was the wife of the Baron Nickson, KBE (born 27 November 1929), a businessman, & a former crossbench peer and a former President of the Confederation of British Industry. He was Chairman of the Clydesdale Bank, Scottish & Newcastle, Scottish Enterprise and the Government's Senior Salaries Review Body.

She was the former Eira Govett, daughter of John Romaine Govett (1897-1956), of Manor House, Newton Stacey, Hampshire, and his wife the former Angela Mary Mostyn Pritchard (1909-1979); and was three times married, firstly, 6 Aug, 1955, to John Robert Findlay (1927-2016), scion of that landed gentry family of Findlay of Boturich, son of James Buchanan Findlay, CBE, of Carnell, Ayrshire, by his wife the former Mary Sancroft Findlay-Hamilton, scion of that landed gentry family; married 2ndly, 1983, John Drysdale, and married 3rdly, in 2013, the life peer the Baron Nickson.

She leaves three sons from her first marriage, James Anthony (born 14 Oct, 1957), Michael Andrew (born 22 March, 1960), and Alasdair John (born 13 May, 1963).

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Robert Gwyn Palmer (died 2026)

 Robert Gwyn Palmer died 14 March, 2026.

He was a son of J. Gwyn Palmer, of Treboeth, Glamorgan, and married at Cirencester, in December, 1991, Juliet Ann Favell Van Oss (born 8 March, 1961), daughter of Peter Humphrey Alexander Van Oss (1936-2020), a descendant of the Earls of Waldegrave, and his wife the former Susan Antonia Bazley (born 5 May, 1937), scion of the Bazley baronets.

He leaves issue, two daughters, Xanthe Hope (born 12 Feb, 1995), and Syrie Favell (born 20 May, 1997).

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Peppiatt/McFarlane engagement

 The engagement was announced 28 March, 2026, between Dominic Andrew Slingsby Peppiatt (born 19 March, 1997), eldest son of Giles Ernest Peppiatt (born 1964), of Mursley, Buckinghamshire, and his wife the former Katherine Candida Innes (born .30 May, 1967), scion of the Inness of Edingight baronets, & Clementine Josephine McFarlane (born circa 1998), elder daughter of Alastair D.J. McFarlane (born 1963), of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, and Mrs Cassandra McFarlane (nee Martinez), of Clovelly, Devon.

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Elliott/Dujardin engagement

 The engagement was announced 28 March, 2026, between Hector Edmund Murray Elliott (born 16 November, 1996), eldest son of Rupert Elliott, of Sandhurst, Kent, by his wife the former Catherine Jane Lawrence (born 24 November, 1964), scion of the Lawrence baronets, and Anna Jane Dujardin (born 1998), daughter of Mark Dujardin, of Cambridge, and Mrs Katrina Dujardin (nee McKenzie), of London and Edinburgh.

Sir Walter Lawrence, 1st Baronet (1857-1940) > Henry Lawrence (1891-1959) > Walter Lawrence (b 1935) > Catherine Lawrence (b 1964) > Hector Elliott

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Cecilia Catherine Holding Curtis (born 2026)

Chloe Chandra Curtis (nee Holding, born May, 1984), wife of George Edward Curtis (born 31 Oct, 1980), gave birth to a daughter, Cecilia Catherine Holding, 26 March, 2026, a sister for Matheson.

George Curtis is the son and heir of Sir Edward Philip Curtis, 8th Baronet (born 25 June, 1940), of Ludlow, Shropshire, and his late wife the former Catherine Mary Armstrong (who died 16 January, 2015).

Chloe Curtis is a daughter of John E. Holding, of Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, and Mrs Holding.

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Ivo Archer William Campbell Adamson (born 2026)

  Hannah Gillian Campbell Adamson [born 1988, (née de Haan), wife of James William Campbell Adamson (b 1989), scion of the Adamson landed family, of Strathcaro, gave birth to a son, Ivo Archer William, 17 March, 2026, a brother for India Vivien, who was born 19 September, 2021, and for Sophia Gillian, who was born 6 October, 2023. 

James Campbell Adamson is a son of Hugh A. Campbell Adamson [born 1954], of Stracathro, Angus, by his wife the former Hon Alison Mary Elliott (b 1957), daughter of the life peer Baron Elliott of Morpeth.

Hannah Campbell Adamson is a twin daughter of Archer de Haan [born 10 June, 1950], and Mrs Vivien de Haan [nee Whittall, born 1961], of Bromfield, Shropshire.

The infant descends from the Earls of Plymouth:-

Ivor Windsor-Clive, 2nd Earl of Plymouth [1889-1943] > Lady Gillian Windsor-Clive [died 1961] > Archer de Haan [b 1950] > Hannah de Haan [b 1988] > Ivo Campbell Adamson [b 2026]

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Lakin/Pike engagement

 The engagement was announced 26 March, 2026, between Hugo Alexander Lakin (born 1995), scion of the Lakin baronets, son of Michael Simon Lakin (born 26 January, 1955), of Iping, West Sussex, and his wife the former Amanda Shaw, and Katherine Louise (Katie) Pike (born 1995), daughter of Matthew William Joseph Pike (born 10 Oct, 1964), of Milland West Sussex, by his wife the former Sarah Louise Rance.

Hugo Lakin is a great-grandson of the 2nd Viscount Cowdray (1882-1933), and a descendant of Sir Michael Lakin, 1st Bt (1846-1931).

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Rhind-Tutt/Letts engagement

The engagement was announced 25 March, 2026, between George Frederick Rhind-Tutt (born 1998), son of the late Philip A. Rhind-Tutt (b 1953, d.?), and his wife Linda J. Bromwich (born 1961), & Eveleen Iona T. Letts (born 1998), daughter of Quentin Richard Stephen Letts (born 6 February, 1963), of How Caple, Herefordshire, and his wife the former Lois Henrietta Rathbone (born 1965).

Eveleen Letts is descended from the Stephen family, and from a sister of the 1st and last Baron Mount Stephen, GCVO (1829-1921), the first Canadian to be elevated to the peerage.

William Stephen (1801-1891) = Elspeth Smith > George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen (1829-1921)

William and Elspeth were also parents of Eleanora Simpson Stephen (1835-1916), who married James Cantlie (1836-1924), and were parents of Mary Stuart Cantlie (1868-1916), who married Prof John George Adami (1862-1926), and were parents of Colonel George Donald Stephen Adami (1900-49), who married Ione Katrine Johnstone, and were parents of Jocelyn Elizabeth Adami (b 1934), who married Richard Francis Bonner Letts (1928-2010), and were parents of Quentin Letts (above).

George Rhind-Tutt is a cousin of the English actor Julian Rhind-Tutt (b 20 July, 1967)

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Sir Hildebrand Harold Harmsworth, 3rd Baronet 1931-2026

 Sir Hildebrand Harold Harmsworth, 3rd Baronet, died 6 March, 2026. He was 94.

He was born 5 June, 1931, son of Sir Hildebrand Alfred Beresford Harmsworth, 2nd Bt (1901-1977), and his wife the former Elen Billenstein (who died 29 December, 2005); and succeeded to the baronetcy (created in 1922), on the death of his father, 15 November, 1977.

He was a great-nephew of the 1st Viscounts Northcliffe and Rothermere.

He married 10 August, 1960, Gillian Andrea Lewis (b circa 1939, died 8 August, 2005), by whom he had issue, a son and two daughters. The son, (Hildebrand Esmond) Miles Harmsworth (born 1 September, 1964), succeeds as 3rd baronet.

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Fane/Humphrey engagement

 The engagement was announced 25 March, 2026, between Andrew William Mildmay Fane, OBE (born 9 August, 1949), of Woodbridge, Suffolk, scion of the Earls of Westmorland, the elder son of Major Robert William Augustus Fane (1913-1989), and his wife the former Elinor Valerie Borthwick (1915-2008), scion of the Borthwick baronets, & Mrs Valerie Mae Humphrey (born 1960), of Los Angeles, Hampshire and London. 

Andrew Fane married firstly, 1989, Dame Clare Lucy Marx, DBE, DL, FRCS (born 15 March, 1954, died 27 November, 2022), sometime President of the Royal College of Surgeons.

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Sir Richard Caesar Hawkins, 9th Baronet 1958-2026

 Sir Richard Caesar Hawkins, 9th Baronet, died in South Africa, 23 February, 2026. He was 67.

He was born 29 December, 1958, a younger son of Sir Humphrey Villiers Caesar Hawkins, 7th Baronet (1923-1993), and his wife the former Anita Funkey, and was a younger brother of Sir Howard Caesar Hawkins, 8th Baronet (1956-1999), and he succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his brother, 2 April, 1999.

He married in 1992, Ernestine Ehrensperger, daughter of Johannes Ehrensperger, by whom he had a son, Jonathan Caesar, born 23 June, 1992.

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Hon Louis Francis Edward Seymour (born 2026)

Poppy Alexandra Seymour, styled Baroness Seymour (born 7 September, 1990), wife of Sebastian Edward Seymour, styled Baron Seymour (born 3 February, 1982), gave birth to a son and heir, the Hon Louis Francis Edward Seymour, 14 January, 2026.

Lord Seymour is the son and heir of the 19th Duke of Somerset (born 30 December, 1952), and the Duchess of Somerset (nee Judith-Rose Hull, born 1952).

Lady Seymour is a daughter of John A. Wilcox, of West London, and his wife the former Gillian J. Saggers (born 1 March, 1954).

The infant is in direct line of succession to the Dukedom of Somerset.

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Peter Ringrose Latham 1949-2026

 Peter Ringrose Latham, died 10 March, 2026, aged 76.

He was born 6 May, 1949, scion of that landed gentry family of Oak Knoll, the second son of Brigadier Henry Beveridge Latham (1892-1977), and his wife the former Evelyn Helen Anne Arbuthnot (1912-1986), who was a scion of the Arbuthnot and Anstruther baronets. 

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