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The royal family has a brand-new member. Harriet Phillips married Princess Anne’s son, Peter, in June, and things appear to be going extremely well. A recent 16-page spread in Hello! magazine paints a picture of a warm and welcoming family who are happy to have Harriet join the ranks. Her comments, especially about her connection to Princess Kate, have led to comparisons between her relationship with the royals and Meghan Markle’s much bumpier introduction to royal life.

Harriet Philips talks about her connection to the royals

Just five months after her wedding, Harriet Phillips feels plenty connected to the royal family, including the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children. In her chat with Hello!, she said she’d had “an incredible experience being welcomed in” by the family. She described her first meeting with the Waleses, while both families were on holiday in the Isles of Scilly, as “very casual.”

Harriet pointed to the Princess of Wales as particularly welcoming. She said, “I can look to Catherine for advice and guidance.” She praised her further, calling her “very open-hearted.”

Critics can’t help but compare

Harriet Phillips’ warm and welcoming experience with the royals contrasts sharply with the welcome Meghan Markle said she received when first meeting and connecting with the royals. While Harriet has called her introduction “very casual,” Meghan previously discussed feeling confused by the formality of her early interactions with everyone, including Princess Kate.

In the 2022 Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, the duchess recalled being a “hugger” when she first met William and Catherine. She said she hadn’t realized how jarring that could be for many Brits and that she soon learned the formality on the outside “carried through on the inside.” Critics have long read those remarks as suggesting Catherine was cold, though Meghan didn’t use that term and appeared a bit apologetic about not realizing how physical touch could be read in some crowds.

Harriet never mentioned Meghan in the interview. In fact, it’s unclear if they even know each other. Still, royal fans on X made the comparison anyway, praising Harriet and Peter as a “breath of fresh air” for building their own lives without publicly criticizing the monarchy.

Fans of the Sussexes have pointed out that the spread’s timing feels a bit suspicious, and it certainly made it harder to ignore the contrast. Since Meghan and Prince Harry moved back to the U.K. with their two children in late August, media outlets have been quick to disparage the pair. Their exit from royal life several years ago was met with ire, but then again, their time as working royals was heavily criticized, too.

Who is Harriet Phillips?

Harriet, formerly Harriet Sperling, is a senior NHS pediatric nurse specialist who worked at Evelina London Children’s Hospital. She and Peter Phillips met at a sporting event their daughters were playing in. Both had been married before: Peter shares daughters Savannah and Isla with his ex-wife, Autumn, and Harriet has a daughter, Georgina, from her previous marriage.

The couple announced their engagement in August 2025 and married on June 6 at All Saints Church in Kemble, Gloucestershire. They now live on Princess Anne’s Gatcombe Park estate. Harriet is not a working royal and holds no royal title.

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