Royal births abound this year! Lady Davina Lewis, daughter of the Duke of Gloucester, has just given birth to her first child, and her sister Rose is expecting her first child in July. Now the ever-handsome Peter Phillips has announced that his wife Autumn is also expecting.

Due this December, the baby will be the first great-grandchild for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. It is touching that Peter is the first one of their grandchildren to have a child of his own – he was the Queen’s first grandchild, the son of HRH Princess Anne.

There were a few raised eyebrows over the sale of Peter and Autumn’s wedding photos to Hello! magazine. Married in 2008, the couple gave Hello! exclusive access and were paid a considerable sum of money for allowing the magazine to publish their photos. The Court and the Family were less than thrilled, so I wonder if the couple will allow a photo shoot with the new baby?

Congratulations to the Royal Family and especially to Peter and Autumn.

Though he has not updated his blog for almost a year, Rafal Heydel-Mankoo, the noted honors expert, returns via CTV Newsnet.

Mankoo is interviewed via telephone from Edinburgh about the recent May wedding of Peter and Autumn Phillips, which can be found here.

Whoo, boy. I didn’t realize that Peter Phillips’ wedding would cause such a ruckus.

First, the Catholics have a fit because Autumn changed her religion from Catholic to Anglican (Church of England). Then there was the Hello! Magazine deal about their relationship and wedding.

A commercial deal in the royal family is looked upon with derision by many. Take the Countess of Wessex’s problems concerning her former PR firm several years ago. Some of the public began to wonder if she was cashing in on royal titles and connections. ITN states that this particular deal struck with Hello! will instead “damage any future claims to privacy” by Autumn and Peter.

That I can’t agree with, unfortunately. Even if they weren’t splashed across the pages of Hello!, they will still be viewed as glamorous, modern young royals and will be placed in the arena of publicity with Kate, Chelsy, Beatrice, etc. Peter has always been a private person, just as Princess Anne had planned, but nowadays I think that privacy is hard to find for anyone in a public family, especially when they have a beautiful royal wedding!

Princess Letizia of Spain’s sister recently discovered this the hard way: the publicity shy Telma Ortiz brought a restraining order against the media in an effort to retain her privacy. The courts felt differently, and ruled that since Telma Ortiz is the sister-in-law to the Spanish Crown Prince she is, by default, a public figure. The order was declined and the media will now, I’m sure, be on her like beans on toast while declaring a ‘freedom of the press’ victory.

Of course, we can’t forget about the religious issue concerning the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Phillips. Father Raymond J. de Souza is outraged, saying that Autumn’s conversion to the Church of England was ‘cavalier’ and that she should be ashamed for stating that the C of E and Rome are pretty much “the same religion”. It does seem fairly unnecessary to me that she should convert, as Peter will never take the throne, but lesser royal figures have had to give up their place for marrying Catholic. Maybe Autumn felt guilty that she would be playing ‘politics’ – inadvertently – with the line of succession.

There have been many debates about rescinding the Act of Settlement barring Catholics from the throne. People say the Act goes against human rights, and they also ridicule it for barring Catholics but not, say, Scientologists. People also note that the Duchess of Kent, a senior royal, converted to Catholicism yet the Duke of Kent keeps his place in the line. How do you explain that?

I have to say that this Act is a bit out of date, but if it is repealed, what happens? Will Prince Michael regain his position in the line of succession, for instance? Would Autumn reconvert? Who knows… it’s all so interesting yet it could be potentially very chaotic. For now, however, the only chaos is the war of words in the media.

Peter Phillips, eldest son of Princess Anne and the eldest grandchild of HM The Queen, married yesterday at St. George’s chapel, Windsor. It was indeed a lovely day for nuptials (Aaron and I also attended a wedding that day, coincidentally). I believe Autumn is wearing a tiara that Princess Anne frequently wears, one that she loaned her new daughter-in-law for the big day.

Time Online – Queen looks on as Peter Phillips ties royal knot

YouTube video news broadcast of the wedding.

The BBC & Sky News covers the wedding

Full Guest list:

The Queen

Prince Philip

The Princess Royal

Captain Mark Phillips

The Prince of Wales

The Duke of York

The Duchess of Cornwall

The Earl and Countess of Wessex and their daughter Princess Louise

Princess Beatrice

Princess Eugenie

Prince Harry

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester

The Duke of Kent

Chelsy Davy

Zara Phillips (bridesmaid)

Stephanie Phillips (Peter’s 11-year-old half sister)

Mike Tindall

Ben Goss (Peter’s housemaster at Gordonstoun School and best man)

Andrew Tucker (childhood friend and second best men)

Autumn’s father Brian Kelly

Autumn’s stepfather Ron Magas, airline pilot with Air Canada, and her mother Kitty

Autumn’s twin brother Chris, a roofer in Pointe Claire

Autumn’s older brother Kevin, a chef in a Pointe Claire restaurant

Autumn’s uncles Ken and Bill McCarthy

Autumn’s aunt Colleen Galley, vice-principal of St Thomas High School, Pointe Claire

Autumn’s goddaughter Daragh McCarthy, aged 8, and her mother Jan

Sir Michael Parkinson

Sir Jackie Stewart

Peter’s colleagues from the Royal Bank of Scotland’s sponsorship department

Peter’s former colleagues from the Williams Formula 1 marketing team

Jackie Aubie, friend of Autumn and school psychologist at Kuper Academy, Kirkland, Pointe Claire

Organisers

Wedding planner: Peregrine Armstrong-Jones (a younger half-brother of the Earl of Snowdon)

Flowers: Rob Van Helden

Photographs: Sir Geoffrey Shakerley

Dress: Sassi Holford

 Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips and his Canadian fiancée Autumn Kelly have lifted the lid on their very private, four-and-half-year relationship by giving the first interview ahead of their May 17 wedding to HELLO! magazine.

The 19-page special feature in this week’s issue gives the inside story on the couple’s fairytale romance. Pick up your copy of this week’s HELLO magazine, issue number 1020, on sale from May 6.

Image details: Gatcombe Horse Trials -Saturday served by picapp.com

Image details: The Festival of British Eventing from Gatcombe Park – Day 1 served by picapp.com

Image details: The Festival of British Eventing from Gatcombe Park – Day 1 served by picapp.com

Image details: Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials – Day Three served by picapp.com

Peter Phillip’s christening with his mother, HRH Princess Anne and grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.