Montrealer Autumn Kelly weds Queen's eldest grandson
CBC News | Posted: May 17, 2008 3:38 PM | Last Updated: May 17, 2008
Canadian Autumn Kelly wed the Queen's eldest grandson, Peter Phillips, on Saturday in a ceremony in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle attended by about 300 guests, including 70 from Canada.
Kelly, 30, wore a tiara on loan for the day from her mother-in-law, Princess Anne. She also had on earrings and a necklace given to her by her 30-year-old groom, as well as a veil.
Her dress — reported to be a $4,000 Sassi Holford wedding gown — had buttons and long bows down the back. Kelly's bridesmaids wore strapless mint green dresses and had white flowers placed in their hair.
The skies were grey, with just a few showers that subsided once the bride reached the courtyard of the chapel, arriving in a maroon-coloured state Bentley.
After the ceremony — attended by the Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Charles, along with the bride's parents — the couple left the chapel in a horse-drawn carriage. They were later taken to a reception at Windsor's scenic Frogmore House.
Also on hand for the exchange of vows were Prince Harry and his girlfriend Chelsy Davy. Harry's brother, Prince William, was away in Kenya to attend the wedding of a friend's brother. Representing William at Windsor was his girlfriend Kate Middleton.
Autumn Kelly will not receive a royal title. Princess Anne turned down the Queen's offer of the honours for her daughter Zara and son Peter, who is 11th in line for the throne.
Kelly grew up in Pointe-Claire, Que., in the largely English-speaking West Island region of Montreal. After attending McGill University, she worked as a management consultant. She is now employed as a personal assistant to British broadcaster and television personality Michael Parkinson.
She and Phillips met at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal five years ago. They have been living in an apartment they own in west London for the past two years.
Some in the British media have written somewhat mockingly about Kelly coming from a "working-class" family. The Mail on Sunday took that tack in a recent article, which also said that having the Queen and her relatives mingling with the Kellys could "cause a few raised aristocratic eyebrows."
Kelly's twin brother Chris is a bricklayer. An older brother Kevin works as a chef. Her parents Kathleen, a hairdresser, and Brian, a retired electricity marketing executive, divorced when Kelly was eight. Both have since remarried.