🎭 “THE WEDDING WAS FILLED WITH ROYALS… SO WHY WERE SOME OF THE BIGGEST NAMES NOWHERE TO BE SEEN?” Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling’s wedding was supposed to be a celebration of family, unity, and new beginnings. Instead, many royal watchers have become fixated on a very different question. As photographs from the day emerged, fans quickly began noticing a number of high-profile absences that seemed impossible to ignore. Some missing guests had once been central figures at major royal gatherings. Others were people many assumed would never miss such an important family occasion. The result has been a wave of speculation about what may have happened behind the scenes before the wedding bells even rang. While the guests who attended helped create one of the most talked-about royal events of the year, it’s the empty seats and missing faces that are now generating the biggest headlines. And one absence is causing far more discussion than all the others combined. tt

It was a right royal affair as the King and Queen led wedding goers at Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling’s nuptials in the Cotswolds on Saturday.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal, Zara Tindall, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were among the royals to witness the couple tie the knot at All Saints Church in Kemble.

HELLO! understands that a wedding reception then took place at Princess Anne’s sprawling Gloucestershire estate, Gatcombe Park.

While most of the senior royals were in attendance at Peter and Harriet’s wedding, there were some family members who missed the happy occasion.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson

Following their fall from grace, the former Duke of York and his ex-wife have both been keeping a low profile. The King stripped Andrew of all of his titles last year, as a result of his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Following public outcry over the revelation that he paid only peppercorn rent at Royal Lodge, Andrew was also forced to move out of his Windsor mansion to Wood Farm Cottageon the Sandringham estate.

Meanwhile, Sarah has not been seen publicly for months following scrutiny over her friendship with Epstein. A number of charities cut ties with her after an email from 2011 revealed she called him her “supreme friend”.

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Ahead of the wedding, a friend of the couple exclusively told HELLO!: “Peter and Harriet’s wedding is an intimate occasion with their close friends and immediate family around them in the Cotswolds. It’s an area where they grew up and is very special to them both.

“When and whether Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Sarah Ferguson had been invited, it was probably not deemed appropriate to invite them. It’s Peter and Harriet’s special day, and clearly their attendance would cause a distraction to the whole day.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who stepped back as senior royals in 2020 and relocated to the US, were not among the guests.

Ahead of Peter’s nuptials, a friend told HELLO!: “Peter and Harry haven’t spoken for several years and have simply lost touch, so he hasn’t been invited.”

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Harry last visited the UK in January to attend hearings in relation to his legal action against The Daily Mail, however he did not see any family members during his stay. The Duke was last reunited with his father, the King, during a brief meeting at Clarence House in September 2025.

Lady Louise Windsor

While the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and their son, James, Earl of Wessex, were spotted among the wedding guests, Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie’s daughter, Lady Louise Windsor, was noticeably absent.

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The student, 22, is finishing her final year of her four-year English degree at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Lady Louise, who is likely to carve out her own career, is expected to graduate this summer.