Over the past year, Prince William has been taking on more and more responsibility, after his dad King Charles was diagnosed with cancer. Now, royal experts are predicting that the Prince of Wales will be embracing another new role in the wake of happy news from a "close" royal relative.
Earlier this week, Princess Anne's son, Peter Phillips, announced his engagement to nurse Harriet Sperling after a year of dating. This will be the second royal wedding for Phillips, who split from his first wife, Autumn Phillips, in 2019. Could Prince William play quite an important role in his cousin Peter's next wedding?
The royal editor of Hello!, Emily Nash, weighed in on how meaningful the engagement was to the Royal Family, including the Prince of Wales. "This is wonderful news for Peter and Harriet, but also the wider Royal Family," Nash said of the engagement. "Peter is close to The King and to his cousins [Prince William and Prince Harry] and Harriet seems to have been warmly welcomed into the fold."
Peter Phillips is engaged to nurse Harriet Sperling.
Peter's "close" connection with William has been well documented, and might be a sign that the Prince of Wales will support his cousin during the next royal wedding. For instance, in 2024, a source told The Telegraph, "[Peter has] always been that sort of slightly older brother to William."
Also in 2024, Peter praised the Prince and Princess of Wales's fortitude. "[Kate] and William make a fantastic team together," Peter told The Royal Report (via People). "Their kids are great, and they have the balance of public life and trying to be parents to 3 young children, which is always difficult."
Princess Anne sitting with Prince William.
During an appearance on Good Morning Britain in 2016, Peter Phillips opened up about his close connection with Prince William. "We had a lot of fun and there was a lot of space for kids to run around in and it wasn't just us, it was the Waleses [William and Harry], Freddie and Ella Windsor, and the Gloucesters," Princess Anne's son explained (via the Mirror). "So there was quite a gang of us growing up in that age and it was a lot of fun. We caused quite a bit of mayhem and chaos but fortunately I don't think we broke too much!"
As for whether or not Prince William will play an important role in his cousin Peter's royal wedding, only time will tell.
