Autumn Phillips

Autumn, her twin brother Christopher "Chris", and her older brother Kevin, were born in Montreal, Quebec, to Kathleen "Kitty" (née McCarthy) and Brian Kelly, an electricity company executive.[1] She was baptised on 18 June 1978, at Saint John Fisher Parish Church, and raised in Cedar Park, Pointe-Claire, in the English-speaking West Island region of Montreal.[2][3] Her parents divorced when Autumn was eight years old, after which her mother married commercial pilot Ron Magas, and her father married Lynne, with whom he has two children, Jessica and Patrick.[2]

Autumn's family continued to live in the Pointe-Claire area, where she attended a Roman Catholic parochial school, and then St. Thomas High School, a Roman Catholic foundation.[4] It was reported in 2007 that St Thomas' was where Autumn had both excelled at sports and had also studied alongside fellow student and friend, actress Casey McKinnon.[2][5] Autumn then attended McGill University, during which time she worked as a bartender, model,[2] and actress, appearing in the 1996 film Rainbow, taking the non-speaking, though credited, role of Tigrette Number 3,[6] and later in the television series Sirens.[6] Autumn graduated from McGill in 2002, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian studies, whereupon she started a career as a management consultant.[7][8]

Autumn attended the 2003 Canadian Grand Prix where, while interviewing with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, she met Peter Phillips, who was, at the time, working for Williams F1. She did not know until six weeks later, when she saw him on television, that he was Queen Elizabeth II's grandson.[8][9] She then moved to the United Kingdom, living with Phillips in a Kensington, London, apartment and a cottage on the Gatcombe Park estate.[10] Before meeting Phillips, she had accepted a job with an American computer firm in England,[8] and later worked as a personal assistant to broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson,[8] while also attending royal events, such as the dinner party at the Ritz Hotel for the Queen's 80th birthday.[11]

Autumn's engagement to Peter Phillips was announced by Buckingham Palace on 28 July 2007,[12] and the Queen subsequently gave her consent to the union, as required by the Royal Marriages Act 1772, after a meeting of her British Privy Council on 9 April of the following year.[1] Phillips proposed to her with "a platinum ring containing an oval centre diamond with more diamonds on either side".[13] Prior to the marriage, Autumn, raised Roman Catholic and educated at Catholic foundation schools,[14] was received into the Church of England (Anglican), which does not re-confirm people who were raised in churches acknowledging the Apostolic succession. Had she remained Catholic after her marriage, under the provisions of the Act of Settlement 1701 her husband would have lost his place in the line of succession to the throne.[3][15] That fact received widespread press coverage and drew attention to the Act of Settlement's bar on Catholics ascending to the throne, and prompted calls in both Canada and the United Kingdom for the respective prime ministers to consider the issue.[3][16] She did not, however, give up her Canadian citizenship.[17][8] Some reported unease was also caused in royal circles when Autumn and Phillips were interviewed and photographed by Hello! magazine, for an apparent fee of £500,000.[8][18]

The couple married on 17 May 2008, at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, with 300 guests in attendance.[18] The service conducted by David Conner, Dean of Windsor,[19] and Autumn's dress designed by Sassi Holford.[20] For the occasion, the Princess Royal lent Kelly the Festoon Tiara which she had received as a gift in 1973 in Hong Kong,[21] and Kelly wore a necklace and earrings from her husband.[18] Her six bridesmaids included Zara Phillips, her husband's sister.[18] The couple had a carriage procession before going to Frogmore House for a reception.[18] In 2010, they returned to London after living in Hong Kong, where Peter Phillips had a job with the Royal Bank of Scotland, heading its sports sponsorship activities in the region.[22]

In February 2020, Autumn and Peter Phillips confirmed that they had been separated since 2019, and that they intended to divorce.[23][24] In the public statement, it was said that both Autumn and Peter Phillips remain in Gloucestershire to raise their children.[25] The divorce will be the first one in the royal family in a decade, and the first time a grandchild of Queen Elizabeth gets a divorce.[26]

• Autumn Phillips at IMDb